The Return
by Dracomancer
Summary: Ichigo and his friends as well as Soul Society only have a few remaining months to train until the final fight with the Arrancars, but a surprise group of Arrancars arrive early for unknown reasons. More blood shall be shed.
1. Face Your Fears

**The previous story to this is **"On Hollow Grounds"

**Face Your Fears**

Kein slowly crawled herself out of the large dent in the ground as she released her Bankai and returned back to her regular form, her Zanpakutou disappearing back into her reiatsu. As she got to ground level she stood before Ichigo and Rukia with a rather depressed look on her face. Ichigo flinched slightly as he felt the tension from her.

"I'm sorry…" she stated bluntly "...about what I said earlier."

She fell to one knee as she bowed her head "I mean no disrespect. I—"

Ichigo sighed in slight interruption "...don't worry about it. I know you didn't _actually_ mean that you would kill us if we interfered in your fight, but there's something you need to explain. Before you began your fight with him, it seemed like you two previously knew each other?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Rukia agreed.

Looking back up at the two as she rested her arm upon her leg she replied, "After the incident with Aizen, I had to leave immediately, but I couldn't risk trying to travel through Soul Society and get caught so I decided to play it safe and travel first to Hueco Mundo and _then_ to the world of the living. But when I got there I ran into Grimmjow for a first time. Our meeting was brief and that was that, but it's hard to forget someone with distinct features as his own."

Trusting that what she was telling them was the truth, they relaxed a little. She tried to get back to her feet, but a strong pain shot up her spine from her lower back. Although her weakest point had not be touched or pierced directly, being slammed into the ground and exterior objects so many times took its toll as it made the surrounding area of her Hollow indentation tender upon movement of any kind.

Being on all fours as she tried her best to bite her tongue and deal with the pain, she couldn't ignore a helping hand that was within her sight as she looked back up to see Ichigo was holding out his reach to her to grab to get her back up.

"Come on, I'll take you to Orihime to get healed." She smiled lightly as she took his hand in her own and got back to her feet. "Think you can manage?" He asked immediately. Although Ichigo was offering her a choice so as not to tarnish her pride, the look on his face said otherwise as he was determined to just help her regardless of the answer she gave. He could see right through her from the look on her face and she knew it.

Struggling a bit to stand straight she finally sighed and gave in, "Actually..." she blushed lightly as she diverted her eyes away "...I could use a little help."

Ichigo let out a small exhaled chuckle as he put her arm around his neck and supported her by wrapping his right arm around her waist to balance her. He didn't want her to feel like some helpless child, so he figured just supporting half her body weight was enough.

"By the way Kein...thank you." Rukia stated with appreciation. "If you had not intercepted that guy's attack, he would have ran me through with his hand for sure."

Kein smiled as she replied, "No problem, but let's save the formalities for later. This back pain's killing me."

It wasn't long until all the groupings had finished their battles and gathered as Ichigo, Rukia, and Kein met up with Orihime, Captain Hitsugaya, and Renji. Kein was laying silently as Orihime was healing her, but the silence was easily broken by Renji's banter, "So how does it feel to get your ass kicked?"

Kein shot her eyes open with a playful glare as she retorted, "You're one to talk Mr. Bloodied and Beaten."

"Heh, don't give me that. Out of the entire time you were in Soul Society I don't think I ever once saw you even break a sweat."

"I know right? I guess you got a point there and to tell you the truth? Feels great. Yeah I got beat up, but you know what? It quickly pushed me to my limits and showed me just how weak I really am, but it's okay. It's perfectly fine. We can't go through life without facing someone stronger than us and it just motivates me to become stronger and to better myself...not just for my sake or my friend's sake...but for my Zanpakutou's sake. I've been blessed with unique abilities and it would be such a waste if the abilities went without ever being truly tested in battle. One could say it would be an _insult_."

Amidst the conversation Kein stopped talking as she took notice of Ichigo's stern expression, but it wasn't his usual expression. This was different somehow and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Although Kein's words were enlightening in their own way, Ichigo couldn't help but be stung by them as well.

"_How can she talk so lightly of getting beat like that? Does it not hurt her to know she got defeated so easily? Is she just hiding it? No...I'd be able to see it, but she almost looks...happy. And she fought without her Hollow taking her over. How is she even able to do that?"_

Orihime had finally finished healing her as she sat up quite easily. "Wow...damn that was quick. I don't feel an ounce of pain. Thanks a bunch Orihime! If it weren't for you I'd be stuck healing for the next two days. In fact if I'm not mistaken, your powers seemed to have improved quite well. You heal a lot faster than you used to."

Despite the compliment, Orihime chuckled nervously "I'm not that good at it yet. I think I'm still learning."

"Don't kid yourself Orihime. Your ability is amazing."

"I agree. Your power has increased significantly since the last time you were in Seireitei," Rukia added.

The reassurance made Orihime smile a bit more as Kein could tell that something was also on her mind and figured it had something to do with Ichigo. "Kein, have you recovered?" Ichigo interrupted, giving Kein that same odd expression. Rukia scowled a bit at Ichigo as she interrupted, "Are you feeling guilty or something? I know that look. Kein and I aren't so weak that we need you to protect us all the time. She wanted to fight the battle on her own, so it's her own fault she got beat up. So quit making that pathetic face."

"It's not about that," he exclaimed, but didn't say anything further as he shot his gaze to the side. "If you're worried about that Hollow inside then you should do something. Why don't you just go visit Kisuke and ask him about it. I mean come on, he's the one that trained you. Seems like he should know something about how to deal with this sort of thing don't you think?" Rukia asked with optimism.

"Kisuke wouldn't know a damn thing," Kein interrupted. "If he did he would have said something by now, especially to me." Kein stood up with a rather cold look on her face as she approached Ichigo and got up in his face.

"Look at me..." she commanded as he focused his gaze back onto her "...no offense dude, but now that I'm healed, I'm going to be blunt. I don't have time to babysit you." Ichigo flinched slightly as he gritted his teeth just a bit from his misplaced pride getting pushed on.

"You already know _exactly_ what you need to do. The offer has already been given and I've already taken that offer. I know you've been wanting to ask me, since I returned, about my training so far. Well here's your answer...it is exactly what you need. It will _always_ be what you need until you're willing to man up and face it head on. I have to return to resume my training so if and when you're ready, you'll find me."

The others were a bit puzzled as to what Kein was talking about. Normally since they were her friends, she would reveal any information, but the information about the Vizards was to be kept in secret for now. She swore their privacy upon being given their training and she had every intent of respecting that, but despite her mysterious wording, Ichigo knew what she was talking about.

Taking a few steps back from Ichigo she added, "The Arrancars came here once and I bet you on my life that they'll be back again and I'm going to do what it takes to prepare for their return. I'm going to do what it takes to understand my Inner Hollow and what it truly means to wield those kinds of powers. So you can either come with me and become stronger than you could ever imagine..._or_...you can sit around, mope, and die at the hands of the Arrancars. It's your choice."

-_Next Day_-

Upon the following morning, everyone was off doing their own thing. Ishida was quite busy training with his father to regain his Quincy powers once again. Ichigo had gone missing as it made his family a little frantic, but Rukia after listening to Kein's words, figured that Ichigo had decided to go train with Kein and explained to his family that he would be gone for a while with a friend on some personal matters, but although she knew where Ichigo must have gone, she had no idea where either Ichigo or Kein was. She couldn't feel out their spiritual pressures. Orihime was back in school while the other's were gone, but she couldn't take her mind off of the situation.

Rangiku and Hitsugaya were on the school roof as he was preparing his report to Soul Society. "Tell them how we kicked their butts after gente kaijou was authorized!" Rangiku stated excitedly, but Hitsugaya merely replied, "Those guys were small fry. They weren't Vastro Lordes. They probably weren't even the rank below that, Adjuchas. Don't you understand what happened here? Even I, a Captain, couldn't defeat one of their Gillian class without using full strength. We're outmatched. These guys are too strong for us."

Rangiku sighed a bit as it was unfortunately all too true to what Hitsugaya was saying. Chad on the other hand didn't want to be kept on the sidelines anymore. He wanted training and so he sought out help from Urahara. However, amongst the others and after some time of reflecting on what Kein had said to him, Ichigo had finally decided to seek her and the Vizards out.

It was in some back water area of town and took him some time to walk to, but he came upon the building that was rather large and had a front panel garage door that was partially open enough for him to walk into. As he walked in the door closed behind him as he was engulfed in a small shadowy area, a voice calling out to him, "Good job finding this place Ichigo."

The Vizards could be seen sitting separately amongst the three layers of broken cemented levels of the building as Shinji looked down upon him with his usual jeering smile.

"My, so serious. I wonder what that means. Wait...have you finally decided to join us? I'm sort of impressed you found our hide out. I don't mean to put you down but it is something of a surprise considering you usually suck at detecting spiritual pressure. Bottom line is I figured you'd come here eventually...just like Kein said. To be honest and to make it easier for you, we pumped out as much spiritual pressure as we could to help you find your way here. I guess it must have worked. The fact that you're here convinces me that you finally decided to come over to _our_ side. Am I right?"

A moment of silence fell amongst the group before Ichigo blurted out, "Bite me! I have no intention of joining up with you people. I don't know what Kein told you, but I'm not that desperate so don't kid yourself."

He grinned rather big as Shinji merely frowned at him, "I'm here to use you Shinji."

"Oh is that so?"

"I came here with one purpose in mind. I'm not leaving until I get it. I want you to teach me how to control the Hollow inside me. After that, I'm outta here."

"You must think we're just a bunch of pushovers," Shinji replied.

"I'll _make_ you teach me," Ichigo warned.

"Heh, oh yeah? How so?" Ichigo looked back up at Shinji and smiled, "I guess I'll beat it out of yah."

"You're welcome to try."

Without hesitation Ichigo took out his representative badge and immediately went into his Shinigami form and came at Shinji with his sword, but before he could land a strike on him Kein suddenly appeared before Ichigo and blocked his attack with her own as she pushed out enough force to impact him into the ground with a rather forceful thud. Quickly getting back to his feet he barked out, "What the hell? Kein?"

A silence broke out once more as Kein lowered herself to his ground level and lightly placed her feet back upon it. He gasped slightly as he readied his sword again.

"Get out of the way Kein!"

"Don't you _dare_ attack my friend you son of a bitch!"

He gasped again from her abrupt tone. He was used to Rukia barking back at him in such a manner, but Kein's retorts were much harsher and wild like. Shinji interrupted as he added, "By the way Ichigo. Normally it would be _our_ decision on who joins our little group and who doesn't, but this is a special occasion. It won't be our decision...but _Kein's_."

Gasping more audibly he retorted, "WHAT?" as he looked at Kein in confused anger. "You've got to be kidding me. First you can't stop insisting that I come here and now you're going to stand there and fight me? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You're so damn arrogant you know that? I suggest you watch your words because with a flick of my finger you can be in...or you can be _out_."

Ichigo gritted his teeth as he gripped more tightly upon the handle of his sword. "What's the point in telling me to come here if you have no intention in helping me?"

"First of all, _dumbass_, you came here on your own accord and to be quite honest, I didn't think you'd actually come."

A small silence fell between the two as Kein continued, "Not to mention you came here with the complete wrong idea so let me get this through that stubborn skull of yours. What determines a Vizard is not based upon what _you_ want. It is determined upon your _power_. I've known you well enough to know that your power is incredible without question, there's no doubt about it. However, the biggest obstacle is that damn _fear_ of yours. Let me put something into perspective and see if it annoys you as it equally annoys me," she bantered on in a purposely whiney voice.

"I'm too _afraid_ to lose my friends. I'm too _afraid_ I won't be able to protect everyone. I'm too _afraid_ that I'll die. I'm too afraid of my Inner Hollow coming out. I'm too _afraid_ that he'll take control of me. I'm too _afraid_— "

"...damn it THAT'S ENOUGH!" He barked out in anger. She sighed and closed her eyes momentarily as she replied, "Annoying isn't it? If you're so tired of hearing it, then bring out that Inner Hollow of yours."

Ichigo frowned in defiance, "I refuse." Kein's level of patience was running thin.

"You think I don't understand how you feel? You think I haven't experienced your anger…your pain…your _fears_? You may be 15, but me and Rukia have lived a _lifetime_ compared to you. We've been there…Ichigo…I have been there. And I still have to face those fears, but I don't have to do it alone. We're in this _together_ and the only way this is going to work is if you _listen_."

Ichigo didn't respond, but her words slowly started to slither inside him and unwind the fear that was so keenly wrapped around his heart.

"You're a guardian Ichigo. You always have been. You are the protector in your group of friends and you've been that way even before becoming a Shinigami. You have _indirectly_ chosen to go down the path of the warrior...the fighter...the one that stands above _all else_, but with that responsibility you lack the _understanding_ of what it truly means to take up that kind of role. It's not just about protecting your friends or yourself or your _pride_. It's about understanding what drives you to want to do those things and further your power. Your Inner Hollow understands it, why can't you?"

He questioned her words slightly as she was growing rather irritated with the looks on his face. As much as she respected him on a lot of levels, she couldn't help but be highly rubbed the wrong way by his equally stubborn and defiant nature that matched her own.

"Tell me something Ichigo; do you believe the relationship between a Shinigami and his Zanpakutou is the same as a Shinigami and his Inner Hollow?"

The boy's eyebrows furrowed as he answered quizzically, "_No_."

"You're wrong. They're i_exactly_ the same."

Ichigo's face wandered in question. The same? How could they possibly be the same.

"Let me enlighten you since you don't seem to _get it_. The nature of Hollows is forever and always will be daunting to understand as it can never truly be explained to their nature, but the line between Hollow, Human, and Shinigami are not as spread out as many would believe. Hollows, despite their monstrous nature, also have feelings like you and me. They feel pain and anguish just as easily and as they desire to kill and devour Human souls or each other, not out of choice but because it is simply their nature to do so. Humans and Shinigamis are no different."

"What are you saying?" He asked, still unsure.

"I'm _saying_ that you need to learn a little humility in your life for once and understand that, like Zangetsu, you can't just expect your Hollow to bow down before you and just give you the right to hone his powers. _His_ powers. You have to _earn_ that right. Your Hollow is a part of you just as much as you are a part of him. It is in his instinct to over take your body just as much as it is in your instinct to control him. I don't know about you, but I have every respect for my Hollow. And I could never blame him for wanting to ultimately get rid of me. He's merged within my soul and mind, submitted to my will. If the roles were reversed and it was you stuck inside the body of your Inner Hollow, would your instinct not want to fight against him and take control? Would you not with every fiber in your being want to come out and be your own entity without being overclouded by another?"

Her words sat upon the air like a heavy dense atmosphere. It was the first time that he had ever heard someone speak of Hollows like a Human being. It was the first time he had ever heard someone show compassion to such monstrous entities. In its own strange way, he truly respected that aspect about her and was reminded of just how different she was from other Shinigami's in Seireitei who have a much more hardened core against such idealisms and did not care to take the time to understand such things.

In this aspect, his temper cooled as she was the only other one he could go to that was dealing with the same issues that _wasn't_ solely part of the Vizards.

"I'm fully aware that you don't know how to bring out your Hollow and you're too afraid to fight me in fear of him taking control so I'm going to make this easier on you..." she left her sentence unfinished as a being came out from the shadows and stood beside Kein.

Ichigo gasped in shock as his eyes laid upon the being beside her. This being looked very much like the Arrancar, Grimmjow. He was in full white attire that was stripped with thick black lines from his head to his feet. His skin was an awkward two tone, and upon his face was a strange looking mask that had horns sticking out and one that was placed in the middle that sat neatly by itself.

And of course the most noticeable and hard-to-ignore feature were the eyes, the ever so black and yellow Hollow eyes. Ichigo couldn't help but stare as his gaze met with Ernesto's as the Hollow replied in a jeering type of tone.

"Well...if it isn't Mr. Tall, Orange, and Scared."


	2. Training Day

**Training Day**

The boy was frozen in place. Just what the hell was Kein planning?

"You're probably highly confused right now and rightfully so, but I want to introduce you to _my_ Inner Hollow."

He gasped as he repeated, "_That's_ your Inner...Hollow?"

Ernesto grinned widely looking upon Ichigo like he was fresh bait, cackling with a snide expression.

"What's the matter..._Ichigo_...are you afraid?"

Ernesto's taunting nature was all too familiar of his own Inner Hollow, finding it unnerving…wild…_uncontrolled_.

"How...how is it that he's just standing there right beside you?"

"Tenshintai."

Ichigo gasped as the name she spouted brought on a familiarity, but he couldn't quite remember.

"Tenshintai is that cut out doll you used to bring out Zangetsu when you trained in Soul Society to learn your Bankai. Well, I decided to borrow it from Urahara and bring out my Zanpakutou's spirit. Since my Inner Hollow is the center of my spirit energy right now, he came out instead of Bankaguna. That was two days ago and as you well know, the doll lasts for three days so this is the last day he will be here."

Ichigo found it hard to comprehend that the doll could not only bring out the Zanpakutou's spirit, but also the Inner Hollow. Looking at Ernesto was more like a nightmare for him as he was constantly haunted by his own Inner Hollow.

"Kh...b-but why?"

"You mean _why is he here_? It's simple. I struck a deal with him and he decided to accept it. In exchange for me not interfering no matter what the condition you're put in, he will fight you one on one as I requested of him and refrain from killing you."

Ichigo gasped audibly as he spurted out "W-WHAT? You want me to _fight_ that thing?"

Kein frowned, "That _thing_ has a name. Be a little more respectful."

Her Hollow merely chuckled as he added in, "This one's a lively one. Easily scared too. I like that. I like that _very much_. The name's Ernesto. Nice to meet you..._Kurosaki_."

All the other Vizards looked on in silence as the situation was a bit unnerving, having never hung around a Zanpakutou spirit like it was a normal Human being, be it Zanpakutou or Inner Hollow.

"Just in case you were wondering, although I defeated Ernesto in battle to gain control of the Hollow powers he has..._hesitantly_ let me use, I have also willingly allowed him to be the center of my energy for the sole purpose of letting him teach me how to harness these powers and _respect_ them, but letting him do it in his own way, which is a lot more effective than how Bankaguna usually teaches me. So because Ernesto is the center of my spirit energy, he was able to come out instead of Bankaguna."

"But I don't understand. Why do you want me to fight this guy?"

"I already told you…because you're too afraid to bring out your hollow on your own. So the only other choice is to force it out of yah."

"I get that! But why with him? How can you trust him so easily? Aren't you af..." and he stopped in mid sentence as he realized what he was about to ask, his fear still controlling him "...afraid?" She finished for him.

She then turned slightly and looked up at Ernesto with a grin, "The bastard probably wants to kill me right now. It'd be the perfect opportunity, am I right, Ernesto?" Cackling some more Ernesto responded eagerly, "_Naturally_."

Ichigo watched in bafflement as the two conversed. He just couldn't understand how Kein could talk so nonchalantly to Ernesto, knowing full well that he could try to kill her on the spot.

"But that wouldn't be much fun if you just keeled over on me. Taunting you is way more amusing," Ernesto further jested at her. Kein chuckled back at him, "I couldn't agree with you more," as she tossed her gaze back at an ever frozen Ichigo as Ernesto added "I'll only admit this once, but I've been wanting to fight you for quite some time."

Ichigo's gaze widened as he replied, "Y-You wanted to fight...me?"

Ernesto shook his head as he held out his hand, his Zanpakutou flashing forth from it as he grasped onto the handle and replied, "Silly Shinigami. I'm not talking to _you_. I'm talking to your _Inner Hollow_."

And without a moment's hesitation he came at Ichigo with a fierce slashing attack as their blades collided, but Ernesto's strength was much more then Ichigo could have imagined as Ernesto was easily pushing down harder on the boy. Withdrawing his sword back, he slashed it down again and again as Ichigo was barely holding back the attacks as the Hollow was bouncing around him like a chicken with its head cut off and without being in his Bankai form, he was quickly realizing the difference in strength.

When he had fought his Inner Hollow the first time, the two strengths were identical, but now he was fighting someone _else's_ Inner Hollow and it proved to him that if Ernesto seemed stronger than he was, then that means Kein was also stronger than him. Maybe not by that large of a margin, but he could definitely feel it. Kein watched the two fight as Ernesto seemed to be having a ball. She smiled feeling that it was good for Ernesto to get out and stretch his legs.

"Come on Ichigo, bring out that Hollow of yours! I want to see what the little shit can do or shall I rip him from your soul?"

Ichigo's left eye began to blacken over as the pupil turned a golden yellow. "Yes, that's it! THAT'S IT! Come out you little bastard and fight me! Surely you're not so weak as to let this cocky kid overtake you?"

Ernesto's form wasn't even in his Bankai as it became increasingly stronger, striking down upon the carrot top as cracks and splits began to show in Ichigo's blade.

"If you don't Hollowfy you're going to die Ichigo!" Kein barked at him as Hiyori jumped down beside her.

"Damn little twit is going to get eaten alive by that Inner Hollow of his. I don't even know why we're bothering with this."

"Because you know as well as I do that even if he _did_ get ultimately absorbed by his Inner Hollow, we would have a disaster on our hands. His power maybe untamed, but his potential and growth rate is frightening. He needs this more than anything right now and we need _him_."

"Oh really? And what makes you so sure?" She asked back in a snide retort.

"Because whatever Aizen plans on doing, Ichigo might be the only one in the end that can stand up to him. It's not something I can explain with logic or know-how, but it's just a feeling I have."

"Pfft, you and you're _feelings_. Speaking of frightening, that's one nasty Inner Hollow of yours. He's giving that carrot top a run for his money."

"Heh, yeah, tell me about."

Ichigo was receiving quite a beat down due to Ernesto being too quick to catch up with. Slashes and cuts appeared on the boy's body as blood spattered randomly in mid air as Ichigo tried his best to keep his stance in battle, but no matter what logic or reasoning Kein gave him, his heart was still so wrapped up with fear of losing his sanity and bearing the ramifications of it. He refused to use Bankai and he refused to let out his Inner Hollow.

"_Ichigo...please...don't make me regret letting Ernesto out...because he'll be too tempted to kill you...if you don't fight back_," Kein thought to herself in worry as she watched Ernesto giving him quite a beating and liking it a bit too much out of a blood lusting frenzy. She gritted her teeth, hoping and praying the boy's Hollow would finally pop out.

"You are so pathetic...Ichigo KUROSAKI!"

And with an inward stab of his blade, Ichigo was pierced through the chest by Ernesto, but nothing that would be of a major injury. Only enough to coax out his Inner Hollow.

Blood spat out from his mouth and within that moment of dark silence a shrieking Hollowfied cry echoed into the building as half a mask formed upon Ichigo's face, his eyes entirely blackened with yellow pupils. An enormous reiatsu shot out from Ichigo's body as everyone gasped, even Ernesto. Hollow Ichigo suddenly lashed out with lightning speed as he was going to pierce his hand through Ernesto's chest to literally grab his heart and rip it out, but out of her own fear of anything happening to Ernesto, despite their agreement, Kein panicked and leapt forth from the ground in front of Ernesto as she used both her hands to hold onto Hollow Ichigo's thrusting attack as she was forced backwards against Ernesto as the two were pushed up against a wall.

His attack had not managed to pierce all the way through, but the tip of his fingers had dug in a couple of inches into Kein's shoulder as she cried out, "Shinji!"

Within those short few seconds the entire group of Vizards had gotten a hold of Hollow Ichigo in a similar fashion to when Kein's Hollow came out from the last time. And once again with a small downward thrust of his sword, Shinji cracked off Ichigo's mask.

"And that's enough for today. Well Kein? Was that good enough?"

She smirked slightly as she held her bleeding shoulder, "Heh, I could ask you the same thing since you were going completely on word of mouth that what I told you guys about him was true."

"I guess you have a point there, but yeah he passes...without a doubt."

Ichigo laid upon the ground silently as everyone got off of him to let him up. Kein gritted her teeth a little as she slowly turned and faced Ernesto who at the moment wasn't in the least bit amused. She looked up at him, but then cast her gaze down. The Vizards and Ichigo were now focused back on Kein as Ichigo stood up and looked at her from the ground level. He was rather at a loss of words at this point in time considering what just happened as it seemed no matter what he did, his Hollow managed to surface anyway.

"You broke our agreement," Ernesto stated sternly as he placed a deceiving gentle hand behind her head and drew her in closer to himself. However instead of a surprising kiss like she had done the last time they fought, he instead drew her into his _sword_ as the blade pierced through her stomach and out her upper back. Blood spat from her mouth and onto Ernesto's robes as Ichigo cried out, "KEIN!"

The others were a bit alarmed as well as Ichigo was ready to get up there and help her, but she threw out an arm and warned, "STAY BACK!"

Ichigo along with Shinji were in mid air by the time she had commanded them to stop. Slightly pushing against Ernesto's chest she managed to look back up at him with a weary smile, "Y-You're right, I-I'm sorry. I know w-we agreed...that I...I-I would not interfere n-no matter what. But his Hollow...a-and...that attack...that look on your face...I couldn't bare something happ-pening to you."

Letting out an exhausted exhale as the pain shot up her body, Ernesto merely exhaled through his nostrils in irritancy in reply, "It's embarrassing to call you my master. You don't even _act_ like one, but you are a _woman_ after all."

Letting out a stammered chuckle Kein rested her head back into his chest.

"LET HER GO!" Ichigo demanded as he was fighting every fiber in his body not to attack back. Ernesto merely cocked his head at the boy nonchalantly, "What's this? A fly is trying to get my attention?"

Ignoring Ichigo further he quickly pushed Kein away as he withdrew his blade from her, dispersing the Zanpakutou back into his spirit as he then caught Kein in his arms and slowly floated back down to the ground level. The situation was putting everyone on edge no doubt as Ichigo and Shinji too lowered themselves, standing but a few feet away from Ernesto.

"Ichigo, you should know by now, but since you're pretty naïve let me enlighten you. Your Hollow can not be suppressed simply by focusing your mind on fighting it back or using your body either. We Inner Hollows are not as weak as you believe or something that is to be concealed. You'll simply have to accept the fact that that Hollow of yours is a part of you and if you want to control its powers then you need to _submit_ that adolescent fear of yours and _face_ him since you seemed to have no problem facing me."

Looking down at Kein who was in his arms, here merely grinned and said, "Here, I think this belongs to you," as he suddenly released his hold and let Kein drop to the ground upon her back with an unforgiving thud as spit flew out from her mouth.

"Kein!" Ichigo yelled as he knelt down beside her and held her upright, Ernesto casually walking by the two. "Kh, you bastard!"

"Ernesto..." Kein stated his name softly as he looked at her briefly. He merely looked down with an unamused expression.

"Time's up and my end of the bargain is _complete_. Besides, I have no desire to be surrounded by these weak _beings_ any longer, so you have fun and play your Vizard games. Consider this a onetime freebie from me because the next time you break an agreement with me, I'll make you beg for death."

Within moments Ernesto suddenly disappeared as the doll reappeared with the blade, Bankaguna, falling to the ground.

-_3 Hours Later_-

After being healed by Hachi since their wounds were simple fixes, Kein lounged with the other Vizards as Ichigo was working hard away at a machine type of aerobics contraption made by Hiyori.

"Hiyori, lunch is late again and I'm starving. Why don't you make us something to eat?"

"Yeah, dream on. You'll starve to death waiting for me to cook food. And even if I _did_ cook a meal, I wouldn't let _you_ have any. Dumbass."

"Hey Love, you heard that new song from the Prince of Darkness that just came out? It totally rocks."

"Heh, heh, heh, no but have you read the latest issue of Shounen Jump Magazine? Heh, heh, heh..."

"...how could I? You never let anyone read it other than you..."

"...it's hysterical, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

"Lisa, I want you to keep a sharp eye on that Shinigami."

"Don't worry I won't let him out of my sight."

"Yeah, but you're not watching him. You're just sitting there looking at swimsuit catalogues!"

"_Can it_! I can see the Shinigami fine."

"That's not the point. You're on duty today remember? You're supposed to be training him!"

"Don't worry about it guys, I've got it covered," Kein interrupted all the random chatter as she sat idly on the floor keeping a close eye on Ichigo, finding it almost amusing and glad that they didn't make her do that in order to gain her Hollow mask.

"Yeah, let the rookie take care of her _friend_. And while you're at it, why don't you cook us something Marasuna?" Hiyori badgered. Kein gave her a funny look as she replied, "And what do you expect me to cook with, dirt and rubble? I don't have any money and it's not my fault you guys decided to stay in gigais that require Human sustenance."

Suddenly out of nowhere Ichigo yelled, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" As he picked up the machine and threw it at Shinji, smacking him dead in the face.

"What the hell?" Kein looked on at him in question.

"WHAT'S THE IDEA? You try something like that again dumbass and you're dead!" Hiyori yelled.

"Hey I-I was just...gonna s-say that to him," Shinji stammered.

"I SHOULD BE SAYING IT TO YOU! You bragged about how you were going to teach me control and how to suppress the Hollow inside me FOREVER! So why the hell are you idiots making me run all day long on this cheap poor excuse for a cross country skiing machine? Wait, scratch that. You're not the idiots. I'm the idiot for listening to you!"

"You _are_ an idiot if you think it's a cross country skiing machine!"

"Lunch is here!" Mashiro stated in her child like voice as she entered into the HQ with Hachi while Ichigo and Hiyori continued to argue as Kein found it amusing and began to laugh to herself.

"Sounds good, I'm starved," Love stated.

"Quit calling me dumbass, snaggle-tooth! And how the hell can you consider this training?"

"I'll call you dumbass any time I want to!"

"Should I interrupt them to tell them lunch is here? It might get cold."

"Nah, don't bother. I'll eat theirs."

"They seem to be awfully angry. Why are they fighting?"

"Because they're both being a dumbass," Kein interrupted Mashiro.

Hiyori began to smack Ichigo around on the face with her sandal as they continued to fight. Kein sighed, knowing that Hiyori always had a habit of not explaining something important in detail. She wasn't quite sure what the machine was for either since this was the first time seeing it, but she figured there was something to it that was vital to Ichigo's training. Standing up and dusting herself off she took a few steps ahead as she burst out in a rather loud and abrupt voice, "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The two looked at her as she cocked an eyebrow, not in the least bit amused anymore. "Shinji, if you're recovered now, could you please explain the key point details that I'm sure Hiyori didn't tell Ichigo so those two will stop fighting? I must say I'm a bit curious to know myself what the deal is with that machine."

Shinji sighed as he continued for her, "The stupid-Hiyori-treadmill-trainer..." "...IT'S SUPER..." "...is the foundation for your future training."

"Foundation?" Ichigo questioned.

"We determined the next level of your training program based on how long you can run on the treadmill."

"What exactly do you mean when you say _level_?"

"Just listen to Hiyori okay? Quit complaining and get back on her senseless treadmill trainer."

"For the last time it's the super-Hiyori-treadmill trainer you dumbass!"

"After about three days you'll collapse from exhaustion. First we break you down and then we build you up by teaching you how to control your Hollow transformation."

Ichigo became angered as he retorted, "What? That's a joke! Well you can forget about _three days_. I could run on that thing for almost a week without getting tired! I get it okay? That stupid machine is designed to drain me of all my spirit energy. Well big deal! You want to measure my maximum spiritual output by seeing how many days I can run before I collapse. You idiots! With the spirit energy I have right now I could go five days straight on that thing."

"SHUT UP!" Kein yelled in anger at Ichigo.

"How _dare_ you speak to them in that way you ill-mannered prick! What the FUCK is your problem?"

Ichigo instantly became quiet. It was extremely rare that she ever got mad at him and even rarer to hear her speak to him in that tone or word usage. "Listen Ichigo," she calmed her voice "I know why you're frantic, but—"

"...he doesn't even know how long it takes for the Hougyoku to summon does he?" Shinji interrupted her in question although it was more rhetorical than anything else. Ichigo gasped slightly as he replied, "Wait a second. What did you just say?"

Shinji gave him a glare as he barked back, "I said stop blabbing when you don't know anything about the Hougyoku or anything about Hollowfication!"

"What is this? How do you know about...how is it possible you know about the Hougyoku?"

"I know _all about it_; the Hougyoku, the Arrancars, even Sousuke Aizen. I've known all about them for many _many_ years."

Within seconds Shinji quickly stepped to ground level and then in front of Ichigo as he placed a hand in front of Ichigo's face. "Kein already gave you a few tid bits about us, but I'll fill you in on all the details another day. I thought it would be a good idea to take some time in the beginning so you could get used to us, but now that I think about it you can already turn into a Shinigami. You can use your Shikai and you have...a Bankai."

"Did...did Kein tell you all this?"

"No actually. She _didn't_. We already knew beforehand, but I think it would be better if we just jumped right into teaching you how to control your Hollow just like you originally asked us to. Are you ready, Ichigo? I hope you don't...regret this."


	3. A King and His Horse

**A King and His Horse**

When Ichigo found himself conscious again, he looked around to find himself amongst the same familiar proud standing skyscrapers as he stood sideways upon them with a beautiful blue sky adorned above him. It was silent as he stared off in the distance as his eyes fell on a not so welcoming image that was of pure white as he was met with a jeering grin and black and yellow eyes.

"Hey, long time no see..._king_."

The white inverse Inner Hollow being slowly stood up as he taunted, "What's wrong? By the expression on your face you look..._glum_."

Ichigo looked around in both directions as he saw that Zangetsu was not in sight. "Where the hell is Zangetsu? Answer me!" he demanded to know as he readied his sword as Shiro could only grin back at him.

"I want to know _now_ damnit!"

"I'm confused. When you talk about Zangetsu do you mean the one you're holding..._in your hand?_ Or is it this one..." as Shiro withdrew his sword as well "...in _mine_?"

Ichigo gasped as he saw that his Inner Hollow was holding a Zangetsu blade as well.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

Its colors were in reverse however as Ichigo thought to himself, _"A white Zangetsu?"_

"You asked me a question; where is Zangetsu? Well here's your answer..." as he leapt into the air ready to slam down his blade as he yelled "...I AM...ZANGETSU!"

-_Outer World_-

Just like with Kein, Hachi had set up the same type of barriers around not only the facility, but around Ichigo's body as well. Since she was relatively the same strength as Ichigo, only a fraction stronger, they felt the same methods that worked on her would work just as well on Ichigo. Everyone was encircled around the barrier set up as suddenly a massive shockwave rumbled through the ground as the sky reaching rectangular blocks that held Ichigo's body down began to shake.

"Here it comes," Shinji stated in a low serious tone as they heard a Hollowfied moan from Ichigo as he began to arch his fingers and feet, digging them into the ground.

"Do you think maybe...it would be a good idea to hide his Zanpakutou?" Mashiro asked. "Wouldn't make any difference. If he couldn't find it, it would just make him more frantic," Love replied. Suddenly Ichigo lifted up his head to reveal a half Hollowfied mask upon his face. The pillars on top of him suddenly cracked as they fell to pieces to the ground below. Lisa stood up as she watched the remaining of the pillars fall apart.

"Hachigen, open it up please. I'm the one on duty today. So I'll be going first." Kein stood up as she interrupted, "Wait Lisa, let me go. Me and Ichigo are nearly the same strength and I want to give him as much time to deal with his Inner Hollow as possible. So _I'll_ fight him for as long as I can handle it. Would give me a chance to practice with my Hollow mask, but also I can tap into his thoughts for at least 5 seconds and give you guys an update on his progress."

"Alright, if you feel you can handle it—"

"...yeah, I got it covered. Hachi—"

"...alright Kein," he replied as he opened up part of the barrier for Kein to enter. Kein quickly summoned her Zanpakutou as Shinji warned, "Try not to kill him Kein." She looked back at him with a smile and replied, "That would make my life boring if he keeled over on me now wouldn't it?" She bantered as she entered into the barrier, the opening closing up behind her.

The Hollowfied Ichigo looked at her with a killing instinct like he was ready to devour her, but Kein could only grin back as she readied her sword. "Well now, it's nice to meet you...whatever you call yourself. My Hollow's true name is Anusaram, but he doesn't like the name, it's just reverse for mine. Yours would be Ogichi...but that sounds a little silly in my opinion. Kuro...means black...but Inner Hollows are reverse in color, which would make you _Shiro_. So I'm going to call you Shiro. Sounds catchier so hope you don't mind." And within seconds the Hollowfied Ichigo withdrew his sword and came at her with a strike.

-_Inner World_-

Within that same strike, Shiro had clashed his sword against Ichigo as they separated from each other as Shiro came at him again, cackling his Hollow laugh.

"SAY IT! Why won't you tell me what happened to Zangetsu?"

"You're persistent! Making me repeat myself. I told you that I AM ZANGETSU!"

Force pushing back against him, Ichigo was flung into a nearby skyscraper as large clouds of smoke appeared and chunks of rubble was brought up.

"Ichigo, maybe you're not aware of this, but Zangetsu and I have always been _one_ and _the same_. Together we're your spirit energy. I used to be part of him. We share the same body. But as our relationship began to change so too did our individual appearances. When life is in control flesh covers the bones. When death is in control the bones become exposed. It's the same as Zangetsu and I just as it is the same as Bankaguna and Ernesto. Over time my power increased, control started to switch over to death and Zangetsu became a part of _me_. The more you tried to draw on Zangetsu's powers the easier it became for me to dominate your soul."

Ichigo gritted his teeth as he slowly stood up again. "Is that so? Then that means, if I defeat you here, then Zangetsu will once again become the center of my spirit energy."

"That makes sense..._in theory_...but you won't win."

"Is that right?" Raising his blade up high into the air as then he thrust it downwards, placing a hand upon his right forearm. Shiro frowned, cocking an eyebrow. "Don't be so sure about that! I wonder how confident you'll be after you see _this_!"

"You just don't understand, do you?" He asked as he cracked his neck from side to side and then mimicked Ichigo's movements. "It's not like you might beat me, you _can't_ beat me!"

The two had a stare down for a tense moment before they yelled out in unison, "BAN...KAI!"

A large cloud of smoke appeared around the two as Ichigo's Bankai was slowly revealed. Shiro swiped the smoke away with his sword to reveal himself more quickly, staring into Ichigo's eyes with a grin. Within seconds they rushed in at each other with a striking blow, blade against blade, Zangetsu against Zangetsu.

"Bastard! Now tell me when the hell did you learn to use Bankai like this?"

"Isn't it obvious, I learned it the same time _you did_!"

Their reiatsus shot out as blazing white versus black energies impact together like clear lines on a checkerboard. When the powers had cleared Shiro was going to come at Ichigo once again, but found the boy to be standing idly like some strange zombie.

"What's the matter, have you already lost the will to fight?" Shiro asked in mockery, but got no response as he watched Ichigo stare off into space. However, for Ichigo, a fragment of his heart had summoned a hallucination as he found himself fighting against Byakuya.

"_The truth is, those who do not have the will to fight cannot deflect my blade. It's over._"

As Byakuya came at Ichigo with his sword, Ichigo suddenly found himself back against Shiro as everything around him became his Inner World once again. A bit surprised, Ichigo and Shiro separated as they landed away from each other.

"Why are you getting so upset? We should have some fun," Shiro bantered as Ichigo knelt upon one knee.

"Shut the hell up…" "…_wait a minute, why does Byakuya keep popping up?_..." "…I haven't got a clue what's going on here."

"Concentrate now, don't lose your focus!" Shiro warned as he came at Ichigo again. "Believe me I won't!"

Their blades collided once more as Shiro landed behind Ichigo. "Oh really? Then why were you just staring off into space a minute ago?" Ichigo gasped slightly as he barked back, "I _said_ I'm not losing focus! Getsuga TENSHOU!"

Despite the strength of the attack, Shiro easily deflected the attack like it was nothing. "He blocked it with one hand." Then within split seconds he came at Ichigo with his sword once more as he placed up a single hand and stated softly, "Getsuga Tenshou." Ichigo was engulfed in pure white reiatsu as the attack soon cleared air. Blood dripped upon the shiny metallic blue windows of the sideways skyscraper as the robes of Ichigo's Bankai suit were ripped open on the front showing a deep diagonal gash. Shiro was but a few feet away from him as blood dripped from the tip of his blade.

"I told you, you're not good enough _Ichigo_. Didn't you notice? I was the first to use Getsuga Tenshou after we released our Bankai. And _you_? All you did was watch my technique. You tried to imitate me and failed miserably. You're incompetent, but you know that don't you? _Ichigo_."

Suddenly flashing before the black robed Shinigami, Shiro grasped upon the end of Ichigo's sword. "You might as well _give up_."

Unexpectantly the sleek black color of Ichigo's Bankai sword suddenly began to be taken over by pure white.

"You're not good enough...at _Bankai_."

As Shiro squeezed his grip, the Bankai blade began to crumble into the atmosphere. "Kh...Zangetsu," Ichigo stated his Zanpakutou's name with sadness as Shiro merely retorted "That isn't Zangetsu. I keep saying...that _I am_ Zangetsu."

Without a second to spare or react, Shiro came at Ichigo, planting his hand upon his face and pushing him into the distance with a great force as he impacted with a skyscraper.

"I must admit it never ceases me to how brainless you can be. You've lost your weapon, why are you just standing there?"

There was no response as Shiro tossed up his sword and began to twirl it in circular motions by its chain.

"Ichigo...what is the difference between a king and his horse?"

"What the hell are you saying?"

Stopping his spinning blade and it grasped it upon the handle as Shiro replied, "And I'm not talking about kiddy shit like one's an animal and one's a person or one has two legs and one has four. Form, ability and power! That's what's puzzling! If their form, ability and power are exactly the same then why is it that one becomes the king and leads them into battle while the other becomes the horse and carries the king? So what's the characteristic that distinguishes these two beings? There's only one answer; INSTICT!"

Raising up his blade, "In order for identical beings to get stronger and gain power, they need to develop a _killer instinct_. And that instinct is mostly forged in battle," spinning his blade once again in a more deadly fashion. "They must develop an insatiable hunger to _engage_ in battle. They must live to mercilessly crush, shred and slice their enemies. This thirst for power is not an unnatural desire. In fact it forms the very _essence_ of our being. Your little friend Kein feeds off of this instinct. She may not ultimately desire to slaughter her enemies, but she does not feel at peace unless she is in battle with an opponent that can force her to use everything she's got to win the fight! She has yet to realize this, but _you_? You haven't gotten a clue!"

Ichigo had no response as Shiro's words were slowly starting to sink in as they were making more of a rational sense, but most of all he was beginning to understand what Kein meant by her words not too long ago when she spoke of finding peace only in battle.

"Deep within our body lies the whole instinct to dominate and slaughter our enemies! My friend you don't have that. You use your _brain_ to try to win a fight. You attempt to defeat your enemies with reason and logic. You don't tap into those base instincts within your core, waiting to be _released_!"

Stopping his spinning blade once again he grasped upon its handle as if he was ready to throw it. "And the simple matter of the fact is that it doesn't work! You're _weak_, Ichigo!"

And with one twist of his wrist he threw his blade as it pierced straight into Ichigo's abdomen. "I won't put up with that, am I _clear_?. I don't know about Zangetsu, but I refuse to play horse to a king who is weaker than me. Someone's whose uncertainty and hesitation will end up getting us both cut to pieces!"

He began to approach Ichigo as the boy just stood there dumbfounded by his Inner Hollow's words. "If you aren't willing to assert your strength and attain the crown then _I'll_ destroy you." Grasping upon Ichigo's sword, "Which means..._I'll_ be king," slowly withdrawing it from the boy's body as Ichigo began to think to himself.

_"Instinct...a desire...to seek battle...sword...I won't let you...have my sword!"_

Suddenly Ichigo grasped upon his sword as its pure white colors flashed to a ebony black once again as his reiatsu shot up his blade and touched upon Shiro as the white devil quickly jumped away, his right hand partially transformed into a black Shinigami robed color with Human skin as he looked at Ichigo in surprise.

"_Instinct_."

Blanking out once more Ichigo began to hallucinate as he found himself in some strange plane of reality that was completely red in color and surrounded by floating grey cemented rocks. "What the...where am I now?" He was lieing on his back as suddenly a banged up serrated blade came down beside his head as he freaked and quickly got to his feet as a familiar voice spoke, "So it looks like you're finally awake eh kid? Thought you might be dead." The chiming of bells could be heard as Ichigo gasped at the sight before him.

"Kenpachi. So you're next huh?"

"Kenpachi? Who the hell is that? Makes no difference because I'm here to kill you!" The hallucinated Kenpachi raised his blade and then swung it downward with a fierce and violent strike as Ichigo blocked with his Zangetsu Shikai blade. Kenpachi licked his lips as Ichigo barked "Why are you doing this?" separating his blade from Kenpachi "Cut it out! We settled things a long time ago! There's no reason for us to fight!"

"Settled things? One thing was never settled; this is a battle with swords, not some fist fight. As long as one of us is still breathing then this fight is not over."

"You're making this a fight to the death? Why? There's no reason!" Kenpachi began to approach the boy once more as he kept on a long stretched grin as he retorted in question, "You mean you need a _reason_ to fight?" Ichigo gasped at his question.

"Why don't you just accept it..._Ichigo_? You enjoy fighting as much as I do. You crave power, isn't that right Ichigo? And anyone who truly loves power loves to measure that power in battle, it's a simple _fact_. The question is, do we fight in order to gain more power, or do we gain more power in order to fight? I haven't figured it out yet, but who cares because one thing is for certain, there is no reason we should ever deny it or try to change because we were _born this way_! You have always wanted to fight and you always will! Ichigo, its part of you. You do it instinctively. You have no choice but to _fight_ because it is the only way to _gain_ power! Fight Ichigo! Because if you want to control that power, take your sword and cut down your enemies. There is no other path, no way to move forward or back. FIGHT ICHIGO!"

His conscious subconscious was brought back to his fight with Shiro as he grasped firmly upon the blade of his sword and yanked it from his body as blood spewed into the air, arching his body back, but as he leaned back forward and gazed upon Shiro, his eyes began to glow with intensity and determination. Spinning his blade momentarily, he spun it back into his hand so that he was gripping upon its handle as he entered into a fierce battle stance like something had awakened inside him. Now reborn with a new resolve he rushed at Shiro and within seconds had ran him through with his ebony black blade. Silence...all there was, was silence between the king and his horse as what appeared to be blood that had flew from Shiro's back had suddenly transformed into black cloth as it slowly began to disperse.

"Damn...what do you know...I guess I must have been wrong about you. Looks like you still have a little of that killer instinct after all."

Shiro's Bankai robes were now a pure black like Ichigo's as the bottom of his body began to disappear into fiery flames. "Fine, you defeated me. You've won the fight for now. I guess I have no choice. I'll have to accept you as the king. Still I wouldn't want you to forget while you're strutting around like a king on his horse, I can take that crown away at any time." Despite being defeated Shiro continued to grin jeeringly at Ichigo. "I'll keep an eye on you and the moment I begin to sense the slightest weakness, I'll throw you to the ground, stomp on your skull, and crush it like an egg!" To bring himself closer to Ichigo to make his point in a taunting manner, he firmly grasped upon Ichigo's blade.

"Just one last piece of advice before I go; if you're serious about controlling my power then all you have to remember is _one_ thing. Don't get yourself killed before we meet again!"

-_Outer World_-

A blinding white light shined within the barrier Hachi set up as the Vizards and Kein were watching from the outside of it. An explosion set off as the surrounding areas within the barrier were engulfed by dust and debris. Kein was panting from her fight with Ichigo's physical world Hollow form as she took on the burden of fighting him for an entire hour before she would let the other Vizards fight, but now it was no longer necessary for her to extend the time needed for Ichigo to gain control of his Inner Hollow. When the dust cleared they looked upon Ichigo to find him standing idly as his Hollow form shell peeled away and cracked and crumbled to the ground, revealing a reborn Ichigo with his Hollow Mask upon his face.

"Now Hachi," Shinji commanded "As you wish," Hachi replied as the barrier was brought down with a snap of his fingers as the yellow barrier shattered to pieces.

"So...t-that's what his mask looks like," Kein stammered out as she was kneeling upon one knee, sweating. Her fight with Ichigo was intense as she was able to hold her mask on for 6 seconds, but even though she was not in her Bankai form or even her Shikai, bringing out the mask for practice drained nearly everything from her.

Within moments of standing, Ichigo suddenly fell flat upon his face as his mask rolled along the ground. Shinji approached Ichigo as he asked, "So how do you feel now?" Ichigo slowly turned his head in response, "Fine...not bad at all," as he grinned in a similar fashion that Shiro would.

"Very good."

Ichigo reflected momentarily on Shiro's last words as he looked over at his Zangetsu blade lieing beside him. He grasped upon it as he brought it closer to him, looking at it as he replied softly in response, "Sorry to break it to yah, but that's not going to happen."


	4. Aizen's Frightening Plan

**Aizen's Frightening Plan**

It took a moment before Ichigo was able to stand up on his own, but Kein was over exhausted as she plopped over on her back as the Vizards around her looked at her in concern.

"Kein! Are you alright?" Mashiro asked. Panting rather heavily she replied, "Y-Yeah. I'm fine...just...c-completely drained. Feels like I-I'm gonna faint."

Suddenly she heard footsteps come up towards her as she found herself engulfed in a spiky haired shadow. "Looks like you got your ass kicked. Care to fill me in?"

Ichigo asked in banter as Kein chuckled and smiled up at him. "You're one to talk Mr. I-took-an-hour-to-control-my-Inner-Hollow. While you were bouncing around in your inner world, in the physical world I was fighting your monstrous Hollow form...your _real_ Inner Hollow. Looks completely different than what I saw moments ago."

Ichigo grinned nervously as he asked, "Moments ago?"

"I wanted to give you as much time as possible to control your Hollow so I decided to jump in the barrier and fight your Hollow form, but during our fight I used _Rei de Seikatsu_ to see into your soul for 5 seconds. In doing so I was able to take in probably 50% of what was going on with your fight with your Inner Hollow and I got to see him for the first time. He's the spitting image of you in black and white. He didn't give you a name, but I decided to call him Shirosaki, or in short just Shiro. Makes sense, don't cha think?"

"Wait, so you were able to see everything within 5 seconds?"

"Yeah, but I was also saw…all those _doubts_ of yours."

Ichigo gasped slightly as she sat up again.

"Everything Shiro told you is true and its exactly something I probably would have told you myself, but I think you needed to hear those words from Shiro and not me. However, despite how much I agree with him, there is something I want to express to you that I don't think anyone else will. Consider it advice from one guardian to another."

Before continuing, she slowly stood up upon her feet, nearly falling over from dizziness, but she wanted to stand at the same eye level as Ichigo as her metaphorical way of expressing the importance of what she was about to say. Ichigo looked at her intently as she smiled gently at him.

"You and I share the exact same purpose. We are both protectors...both guardians, but the difference between you and me is, I am a guardian who lives to fight. I live for the thrill of battle and crushing my enemies, even though I don't believe in killing them, but you? You are a guardian who lives to _protect_ and there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with it at all. You may not have the same fighting desires as I do, but every warrior, every fighter needs a reason to fight. You want to protect those around you; that's a reason. I refuse to become a victim or let others become a victim; that's a reason. Most of all? Warriors fight because they _want_ to fight...that's a reason. Instinct is nothing without desires and desires are nothing without instinct to fuel them. So again I say, that even though you don't _desire_ to fight like I do, you still desire to _fight_ even if it's just to protect your friends and don't you ever forget that resolve. But above anything else, do _not_ fear or forget the instinct that fuels that drive. If you ignore the instinct or refuse to tap into it, then you'll die like a dog. Shiro is your instinct, Ichigo, so please...don't ignore him, instead use his powers the way they are meant to be used, not in protection of just your friends or your pride, but in protection of yourself and _him_. He is a part of you just as much as you are a part of him."

Ichigo was gazing upon her solemnly as he took to heart everything she said to him as she seemed to be the only one that ever leveled on the same mentality not only sympathetically and respectfully, but _empathically_. He smiled gently back at her as he took a few steps forward and then embraced her with one arm, his other hand holding Zangetsu. She gasped slightly as this was the first time that he had ever hugged her in the same way that she would embrace _him_. His warmth was strong and caring as Kein blushed slightly from the notion.

"Thank you Kein, for everything. I think…I understand what you're saying now so please...don't ever stop telling me your thoughts."

-_Karakura Town_-

Inoue was walking home alone from school as she couldn't help but to keep thinking about Kein and Ichigo, knowing they were away and training. When she concentrated, she could sense both their reiatsus and could feel that they were strongly lit so in that regard it brought her a small comfort to at least know that they were okay.

"Oh, its good to see you back home Orihime," a voice interrupted her thought as she looked behind her to see a familiar face.

"Thanks! It's good to be home Ms. Shimura!" She smiled brightly in polite reply.

"I've been meaning to ask you something. It's about your two young friends, the ones that have been visiting? Now I don't mean to pry, but are you sure they are alright?" Of course she was in reference to Hitsugaya and Matsumoto.

"Uhh...sure why do you ask?"

"Well I wasn't spying, but I couldn't help but notice them carrying something _odd_ into your place." Rather puzzled, Orihime quickly went inside her home to find Matsumoto and Hitsugaya inside one of the main rooms and standing in front of what appeared to be a very large and strange looking tv that was completely full of black static.

"Wo...that's really cool. No, I mean _not_ cool! What's going on? I mean, what is it Toshiro?"

Suddenly the screen became clear as a person could be seen on the other side. "Oh I'm sorry, thank you for waiting. You've reached the call center of the Department of Research and Development."

"Tell them Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of Squad Ten is calling."

"Yes sir, he's expecting your call." The screen suddenly changed to another image as Captain Commander Yamamoto could be seen. Orihime gasped slightly as she reacted, "It's the Head Captain."

"I must commend you for taking care of this so quickly, Captain Hitsugaya. The recent development made it imperative that we established this emergency channel as soon as possible as we have discovered Sosuke Aizen's true objective!"

"That's what this is about? So you've found out what Aizen's been after?" "Hmm, we have indeed."

Orihime nervously interrupted, "You know what? It sounds like you guys are discussing important Shinigami stuff so I'll just go outside okay?"

"Wait a moment," Yamamoto commanded. "Unfortunately the matter I'm about to discuss concerns you Humans as well. You should hear what I have to say." Orihime nervously replied, "Yes sir."

"As you know, Sosuke Aizen disappeared months ago. And since then we have launched an extensive investigation. We've had teams scouring the Squad 5 Captain's room where Aizen lived in the underground assembly hall of Central 46, the Seijouto Kyorin, where he hid himself after his feigned death. And even the Daireishio Archive where after countless hours of sifting through all the data Captain Ukitake discovered something."

The information Captain Aizen was looking at, what was it?"

"The Ouken."

Hitsugaya gasped as Orihime asked, "Um, what exactly is an Ouken?" Matsumoto stepped in and replied, "The literal translation is The Royal Key. You may not have known, but the Soul Society has a Royal Family. We do have a king, but he had placed Central 46 in charge of governing the Soul Society and the Royal Family choose never to get involved. Neither the Captain or myself. None of us have actually seen the Royal Family in person."

"Indeed, our King is called the Rael or Soul King. Not only is he revered, he is also an important symbolic figure in the Soul Society. The Royal Palace is located in a completely separate dimension and is guarded by its own private force, an elite group known as the Royal Security Guard. And the Ouken is the key that opens the gate to the dimension where the Royal Palace is."

"If that's true and Aizen is after the key that means he wants to—"

"...murder the King. I'm afraid we must assume _that_ is his motive. However, I believe there is a more immediate threat."

"Is there any information in the book that Aizen could have been looking at that could lead him to the location of the Ouken?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Not exactly. The location of the Ouken is a secret that has been passed down from one Head Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads to the next for generations. There has never been nor ever shall be a written record of its whereabouts. The document Aizen was looking at dealt not with the key's location, but the _creation_ of the Ouken. He now possesses the knowledge with which to create the Royal Key. The materials required to create an Ouken are 100,000 souls and a Juureichi one spirit mile in diameter. A Juureichi is an enriched spirit zone found in the world of the living. It's location changes over time. Because it's so spiritually charged, it's an area where spirits are drawn to."

Orihime began to feel a knot in her stomach as a bad feeling was resting heavily upon the air.

"Perhaps you understand now that the Juuerichi that Aizen is after is Karakura Town!"

A chill went up her spine as Yamamoto continued, "I realize 100,000 souls and a Juureichi with a radius of one spirit mile may seem like abstract concepts and be difficult for you to visualize so I'll put it in more concrete terms. If Aizen is able to follow the instructions with which he now possesses and he succeeds in completing the Ouken, Karakura Town, the land on which it stands and every person living there will be carved out of this world and erased from existence!"

"No...that's not possible! But...isn't there anything you can do? Isn't there some way to stop him?"

Orihime was nearly on the brink of tears as she slightly hunched over, her fists and her eyes clenched tightly closed, but the Head Captain reassured her, "We will find a way. The Thirteen Court Guard Squads were created for this very purpose. Thankfully we still have a little time to work with. According to Captain Kurotsuchi's report, the Hougyoku remains in a dormant state for a period of time. And after being released from its seal there is nothing Aizen can do to change that. We believe it will take four months to fully awaken. Aizen will be unable to assemble his forces until the Hougyoku is fully awakened. Only then can he make his move. This winter we shall fight! Until then we must hone our skills and not rest until we are prepared for battle!"

Matsumoto and Hitsugaya nodded as they stated in unison, "Yes sir!"

"Now as for you Orihime Inoue, since Aizen's objective is the world of the living the area may be too large for us to handle by ourselves. We will need the world of the living to gather its strength as well. Go. I want you to inform Ichigo Kurosaki of this matter."

"Yes sir," Orihime agreed with a nod as she hurried out the door to find Ichigo and Kein to alert them of this devastating matter as Matsumoto went to inform Ikkaku and the others. During the course of this meeting and Kein and Ichigo's training, Chad and Renji were also honing their skills in the Underground Training Facility buried beneath the ground as they were under the careful watch of Urahara. Fighting against Renji's Bankai would surely advance Chad to the next level, but it also gave Renji a chance to practice more at his Bankai. Ishida as well was training with his father to gain back his Quincy powers under the agreement that he would not meddle within the affairs of Shinigamis.

After Hachi had healed both Kein and Ichigo, Hiyori started them under a rigorous training routine of constantly bringing out their Hollow masks to hone them into keeping the masks out longer. Ichigo's mask suddenly disappeared as Hiyori gave him a sudden kick to the jaw. Spinning quickly around she then met Kein's attack with a painful kick to the gut as Kein was forced backwards, skidding along the ground as her mask too disappeared.

"I told you guys not to release your Hollow forms without permission!" She yelled as she started running at Ichigo.

"WHAT ARE YOU STUPID? I would have been in trouble if I hadn't used it then!"

"Shut UP! Dumbass!"

She then kicked him again as he went tumbling backwards into another random boulder. "Going until you're in trouble is what training is all about!"

"What did you say?"

"If you want to fool around then QUIT!"

Kein needed a moment to recover as she was holding on her mask longer than Ichigo was, but in turn was draining her energy faster. Love and Rojuro were sitting together on a rock, munching on lunch as they watched the three fighting in the distance.

"They're getting along swimmingly," Rojuro stated sarcastically.

"Mmm, yeah."

"Faster Ichigo! If Kein can do it, then you have no excuse! Now, AGAIN!" Hiyori yelled.

"Shut up! I know what to do," he retorted as he dug his foot into the ground and held up a hand to his face as his Hollow Mask began to appear. Hiyori then quickly came at Ichigo with a strong kick as he flew up an arm to block it as he complained in a Hollowfied voice, "That hurts!"

"Your first move after you put on your mask is too slow! If the fight was decided by the first blow..." she continued to kick at his arm, getting a hit upon his chin again as he went flying backwards "...you'd be done for!"

Kein suddenly came up behind Hiyori after releasing her mask again as Hiyori was quick to turn around and counter her punch, but Kein grasp upon Hiyori's foot to get the upper hand. However, Hiyori still had her other foot free as she twisted her body and kicked Kein upside the head as the blue haired devil was shot into a boulder nearby. "You're still too slow Marasuna!"

"Their retention times are increasing...very quickly," Hachi commented as he was sitting next to Shinji.

"Well it's not a simple thing..."

"…four seconds for Ichigo and eight seconds for Kein—"

"...only!"

"Hey, why is it that you guys are making the carrot top and candy cane go through all this?" Mashiro asked in a child like manner, using her usual nicknames for Ichigo and Kein.

"Its practice so that they can maintain their Hollow form for long periods of time. You did it too," Kensei explained.

"Oh, no I didn't."

What? You liar!" Kensei replied in irritation, but Shinji interrupted and reminded him, "No its true! Mashiro was able to Hollowfy for over 15 hours from the very start. So she's the only one that didn't have to go through all the training."

"Is that how it was? I've forgotten all about it."

"See, Kensei you big grouch?" She bantered as she took a finger and pulled down one of her lower eyelids while sticking her tongue out. "You're such a jerk!"

"Hey shut up!"

"Now...now..." Hachi interrupted, but then he suddenly looked off in the distance towards the facility entrance with a concerned expression. "What's the matter Hachi?" Shinji asked in a low tone as Hachi replied, "There's a problem. Someone just slipped through my force field and entered the building." His answer put all the Vizards on edge as Love questioned, "A Shinigami?"

"No. The barrier I placed up around this location is a technique I devised on my own when I became a Vizard. It can't be broken by a Shinigami's kidou."

"Then who is it? Are you suggesting that it's a Vizard like us?" Kensei asked in impatient frustration.

"I really don't know. The thing that puzzles me the most is that they didn't get in by destroying the barrier, rather they just simply slipped right through it. A Vizard certainly wouldn't be able to do something like that, not at all."

"You're right, then what the hell is it?" They all watched the entrance to the facility as they waited for the presence to show itself. "Here it comes." And upon the stairs stepped down a girl with brownish orange hair and in a school uniform. "A Human?"

"Uh...hi...there. Excuse me...uh...anyone know where the restroom is? Just kidding! Ha, ha, ha." Kensei barked out in irritation, "Say what?"

"She said she was just kidding Kensei. It's a joke, don't get mad," Lisa explained as Love joined in, "Well I wouldn't kid around if I were in her situation."

Orihime was laughing nervously as her attention was suddenly drawn by a nearby cloud of debri as a voice shouted, "What are you doing Ichigo?" The orange haired Shinigami was lieing upon the ground beside Kein as both their masks were gone again as he barked, "Damn!"

"Ichigo, Kein, it's you!"

The two looked up as Ichigo helped Kein to her feet as the two questioned in unison, "O-Orihime?" Using this time to take a small break, Orihime explained to Kein and Ichigo everything that the Head Captain had explained to them.

"I see, so that's what's going on," Ichigo replied after she had finished her report to them.

"Aizen..." Kein stated his name softly almost in rumors and guilt as the temptation to join his side was still there within her heart. Orihime was glad to see that both were okay as Kein caught notice of Orihime staring at Ichigo. She smiled, finding the moment rather cute.

"Hm, what are you staring at?" Ichigo asked as Orihime nervously replied "Huh? Oh nothing. I was just thinking that both of you don't seem very surprised by all of this."

"Well I don't know about you two, but I've known Aizen a lot longer than both of you and I guess it just seems like something he would do. He always talked about how things around Soul Society need to change so that little tid bit isn't a surprise at all. I also already knew about the Hougyoku and to an extent of what Aizen wanted to do, but 100,000 souls?"

"I'm surprised alright, but just not sure how to act," Ichigo added as he placed his chin between his thumb and index finger. "After hearing about this Royal Key I don't think its quite sunken in yet." Ichigo however then stood up in a proud stance as he said, "Wipe that worried look off your face Orihime. It'll be okay. I'll stop Aizen I promise."

He lifted a hand as he looked upon it and clenched its fist. "I know I can still get stronger, I can really feel it now. I appreciate you giving me the heads up. Thanks a lot." He thanked her as he gave one last glance at her, but Kein suddenly got up and drop kicked Ichigo in the stomach.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN _YOU'RE_ going to stop Aizen?"

Ichigo tumbled backwards as he barked, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?"

"You're SUPPOSED to be under the mindset that WE'LL stop Aizen _TOGETHER_...YOU STUPID CARROT TOP! That's the point of being friends _isn't it?_"

"WHAT? STOP CALLING ME CARROT top you bit—" suddenly being dropped kicked again to the gut as Kein kicked him away.

"I'll stop calling you a salad topping as soon as you stop acting like top dog! I'm the one that's strongest here! You can't even hold your little Hollow mask for more than 4 seconds and yet you stand there and say you're going to defeat Aizen? HA! DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" She bantered in playful insults as the two began to pound upon each other.

"What? What kind of logic IS THAT? You can only hold your mask for 4 seconds longer! BIG DEAL you blueberry candy cane!"

"WHAT? Oh great now Mashiro has you calling me that!"

"Well if the glove fits—" as the two began to fight, Orihime could only look at Ichigo in a hint of sadness as she thought to herself, "_Oh Ichigo. He can't really process what I told him because he's so busy training with Kein and getting stronger. It doesn't matter what Aizen is planning. Ichigo knows exactly what he has to do. He's not afraid. Yes, he really is getting stronger and it doesn't feel heavy or scary like before, but it also doesn't feel nice. It's such a strange feeling._" And soon after she quickly left the facility.


	5. Battle Preparation

**Battle Preparation**

Upon leaving the facility, Orihime ran into Yoruichi who was waiting for her outside as she took Orihime to Urahara upon his request in his subterranean training grounds. When they arrived, the three were watching Chad and Renji fiercely battling against each other in preparation for the Winter battle to come.

"What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Orihime asked Urahara as his expression was rather serious, but solemn.

"Well, a little while ago Rangiku Matsumoto came here for a visit."

"Huh?"

"So you know about the Ouken and the danger that lies ahead? This situation is sudden and a little unexpected, but whatever the case may be, all of us including the Soul Society will have to focus and prepare for the upcoming battle this winter from here on out. It's going to be all out _war_. More blood will be spilled than ever before. Both we and the Soul Society will need more offensive power than we already have."

"I see. I...I want to become strong too!"

"Is that so? In that case I'll say this. Orihime when war breaks out I want you to stay out of the battle."

Urahara's words were so surprising that it caught Chad and Renji off guard as they stopped fighting to listen to him speak further.

"Tsubaki...since he was destroyed in the skirmish with the Arrancar the other day you've been unable to restore him correct?" Orihime became saddened as she recollected on the previous events.

"Yes you're right. Tsubaki was so badly broken that I was unable to fix him. I don't even know how to begin to heal him if I could."

"Tsubaki is your only means of attack so without him I'm afraid I can't allow you to participate in combat. It's only reasonable." Orihime gasped as Chad suddenly butted in, "Wait, hold on Kisuke! That's not fair, Orihime is our friend! Don't forget that she fought successfully in the Soul Society—"

"…Chad..."

"...if she says she wants to work on getting stronger than you can't just cast her aside so easily!"

"You should think about this Chad. Do you want to get her killed?"

"No! She has defensive and healing powers, which are more important than attacking ability!"

Urahara sighed, "The defensive power of Santen Keshun is quite limited. Most likely they will be of no use in the upcoming battle. As for healing abilities we have Squad 4. This time Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Kotetsu's squad members will be at the front lines. They will compensate many times over for Orihime's absence."

"But I don't understand!"

"Now that's enough. A warrior's who's lost her strength will only end up getting in our way."

"But Urahara—"

"...its okay," Orihime interrupted the two.

"Orihime..." Chad stated her name in surprise.

"Thank you Chad, but really, its okay. And thank you Mr. Urahara, I appreciate it. I'm really glad that you've been...so honest with me. Guess I'll be going now!" She stated with a fake smile as she quickly ran off out of the facility.

"Orihime wait!" Chad shouted, but he was stopped from Renji placing a hand upon his shoulder. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Take it easy. Kisuke is absolutely right you know? While Squad 4 does specialize in healing, they are also in the Thirteen Court Guard, which means they're trained in combat. And although Orihime has some powers you have to remember she's still just a _Human Being_. Also I gotta say her personality just isn't suited for battle. Right now it may have been the best time to tell her."

"I just hope you're right," Chad replied reluctantly. As she was quickly running out the shop she suddenly ran into Rukia who was standing at the doorway entrance.

"Orihime...I-I...what's wrong? Why are you in such a rush?" Not being able to hold it in any longer, the gentle healer began to cry. "Oh Rukia—"

"...u-uh hey, what's the matter? O-Orihime what's wrong?"

Upon explaining everything to Rukia in bursting tears, the two sat upon a nearby rooftop under a full lit moon. "What? Kisuke...I can't believe he said that to you. He won't get away with it!"

"No...it's okay. But you know what? I've kind of calmed down since you and I have been talking. I think its better this way..." she stated with a light smile as she turned to look at Rukia who was sitting next to her "...I'm sure. I mean it's true that I really don't have enough power to help us win against the—"

"...It's _not_ okay!" Rukia barked in a retort as she stood up and grabbed Orihime by the scruff of her sweater vest. "Haven't you fought by our side all along up until now? Aren't you furious at him for casting you aside so easily like that?"

"But I...I'm not mad I—"

"...stop lieing to me like that!"

"I'm not lieing really! I feel lonely, but not mad."

Rukia calmed her stature as she saw the expression on Orihime's face. "But...being lonely isn't nearly as bad as...being _in the way_. Even though Kein stays with me, and she's around most of the time, it still feels lonely when she isn't around. And now that everyone will be fighting, it'll be so long before I see her again or anyone else. And if I'm only going to be a burden on Mr. Urahara and everyone else then maybe it's better to just be lonely instead." She said with tears in her eyes.

Rukia's heart ached out for her because she too knew what it was like at times to feel like she was in the way instead of aiding other's in battle. She knelt down in front of Orihime as she encouraged, "Orihime listen, in a battle the one's who get in the way are not the ones that lack power, they're the ones that lack _resolve_. During the fight in the Soul Society, there wasn't a single person that became a burden to any of us. Not Ichigo, not Chad, not Uryuu, not Kein, and not you either Orihime," she said gently as she wiped away the girl's tears. If any single one of you weren't there then I wouldn't be here talking to you today either. I bet we could find something for you to do that will help us in this fight. Let's work on it together, Orihime."

"Thanks Rukia." Suddenly out of nowhere a small girl with blonde pigtails came crashing down upon the rooftop as the two gasped. "H-Hiyori." Hiyori grabbed upon Orihime's sweater vest as she commanded,

"You're coming with me! Hachi wants to talk to you right _now_."

"Okay, but who's Hachi?" But without giving her a chance to do anything she leapt into the air, taking Orihime with her, leaving Rukia to herself. It wasn't long before the two were back in the Vizard HQ's training grounds. "Ouch, that hurts," Orihime stated as she rubbed her bottom. "Hey Hachi, I brought you the one you wanted."

"Orihime?" Ichigo questioned as Kein interrupted, "Wait, she's back?"

"Alright that's it Ichigo and Kein, your break is over."

"Hey wait, hold on a second. What do you want wi—" Hiyori rudely stepped in and smacked him upside the face with her sandal as he was planted against a nearby boulder.

Kein merely chuckled as she blurted, "I told you to stop questioning Hiyori's orders or you're going to get smacked around like that."

"I _said_ that you're break is over."

"Alright that's it!" As they clashed swords and began sword fighting as Kein watched them intently. Hachi approached Orihime as he introduced himself, "Hachi is just a nickname. My real name is Hachigen Ushoda. Nice to meet you."

Orihime nervously smiled as she replied, "It's nice to meet _you_." Upon plopping himself on the ground he hunched over and looked Orihime up and down in a studying type of manner.

"Uh so...what was it you wanted to see me about?"

Suddenly he took is oversized hand and placed his index finger and thumb on both sides of Orihime's head as he twisted it to the side. "Ow! What are you doing? Stop it! You're going to pull my head right off like that!"

"Hmm...just as I thought. These hairpins are the _real_ form of your power. They're like a Zanpakutou. This is truly rare, but this one is chipped and I've been quite curious about it ever since you came here earlier to speak with Ichigo and Kein."

"Yes, but I'm afraid I can't fix it because a part of it was shattered."

"Well would you like _me_ to fix it for you?" She gasped as that was the last thing she was expecting Hachi to ask her upon being brought to the HQ again. "What? You can really do that?"

"Why of course."

"Oh GOODIE! Thank you THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

"It's nothing really."

"Alright you can let go of her head now," Kensei interrupted. "I don't GET IT! This makes no sense! Why is Hachi willing to fix that girl's weapon and why did he bring her here all of a sudden? She's...a-NOYING! I can't stand it!" Mashiro began to cry and whine upon the ground as Kensei yelled, "Would you quit your yapping?"

"This is so not fair!"

"Well I bet he's happy."

"Huh?"

"Yes because he hardly meets anyone with powers similar to his own. It sorta makes me feel like...well...it sorta makes me feel like our family is growing," Rojuro stated with a smile. "I bet Hachi feels that way! And some others." Ichigo and Kein Hollowfied as they came at Hiyori once again, but she easily kicked them away. "Still not good enough!"

Orihime placed her broken hairpin upon the ground as Hachi placed a barrier around it that was similar to Orihime's healing technique. "I see. He was broken so that not even a single splinter remained and you were unable to fix him. And as a result of that you were asked to stay out of the upcoming battle. Do I have the situation correct?"

"Uh...not quite, but since I've already explained it like 5 times, lets go with that."

"However, this is still strange. From just looking at your spiritual pressure, you should have powers very similar to mine, but if that were the case you would still be able to return him to his original form even without his shattered fragment." Suddenly as if on cue, Tsubaki appeared as Hachi removed his healing barrier.

"Huh? What do you want woman? What's with that look on your face?" The little guy stated at Orihime with attitude, but Orihime picked him up happily in her hands she was rubbing her face upon his own.

"Tsubaki! I'm so glad you're finally back. I've missed you so much! I can't thank you enough for this Hachi. Oh Tsubaki! I just want to hug and squeeze you and never let you go!"

"Orihime...I have now fixed Tsubaki for you and with this you will be able to return to the front lines. However, I have to agree with the others. I cannot recommend that you be allowed to fight alongside them. If you're powers are _anything_ like mine then you are _definitely_ not suited for fighting especially when your opponents are Arrancars. In spite of all that I've told you are you sure you still wish to fight?"

Orihime sighed for a moment before she answered, "Yes. Yes I still want to fight."

"Hmm...well you'll just have to get stronger than. You have not yet mastered your own abilities Orihime, but surely there is a means for you to fight. Always keep this thought in mind; what's important is not how you _should_ be, but rather, how you _want_ to be."

"Got it!" With a new found determination and healed Tsubaki, Orihime left the facility confident that she can play a role, just as she had promised Kein that she would and never question her purpose within the group. Rukia was outside, waiting for her.

"Uh...Rukia! Ah listen, the truth is at this place—"

"...don't say anything. I already know. I came here and I felt a little of Ichigo and Kein's spiritual pressure, but I know whatever training they're both going under is _exactly_ what they need to be doing. It's enough just knowing, that they're safe. Let's get going."

The two smiled at each other as Orihime thought to herself, "_Ichigo...I'm weak. And it always seems I'm looking back towards you, but now? I'm going to move forward and not look back so that the next time I see you I'll be able to fight without looking back._"

"Alright Rukia, lets go!"

-_Hueco Mundo_-

Aizen was sitting idly by himself as he was watching on a screen the previous events of the battle that went forth between Yammy and Ichigo. He was watching replayed moments of Orihime displaying her unusual powers. "You have an interesting ability, young lady." Aizen had sent Ulquiorra back to the world of the living to re-investigate upon the grounds where he and Yammy had first arrived to study the traces of reiatsu. Upon return he reported back to Aizen.

"Well?"

"There are traces of that past incident. At the time, most if it was just simple guess work, but upon further investigation I've deciphered behind her _actual_ abilities."

"So what do you think?"

"I think she possesses a power I think you could definitely benefit from."

"I see. So...where is she right now?"

"I'm not sure, but she's probably not in the world of the living."

"Good work Ulquiorra."

"My pleasure."

Hours passed as Ulquiorra joined back up with Yammy who had recently regained his severed arm after receiving medical treatment thanks to Ulquiorra retrieving his arm from the living world just in case. They returned back to the room where the Hougyoku was being held, "This is Ulquiorra. Permission to enter," he stated as the large chamber doors opened letting the bright light from the hallway enter into the room. Aizen turned his attention towards the door as he grinned, "Welcome Ulquiorra...and Yammy." Aizen was in the middle of a process of fully awakening another Arrancar that he had modified through experimentation, removing all forms of rationality, memory retention, speech, and intelligence to enhance the Arrancar's power.

He was surrounded by 5 other Arrancars as amongst him was Stark, Aroniero, Halibel, Luppi and Noitora.

It won't be long now."

"What's the status of the Hougyoku?"

"50%. It is going to awaken exactly when the Soul Society expects it to, but...there's a secret...a secret that only those who have actually possessed the Hougyoku are aware of. I have my doubts that even Kisuke Urahara, the man who originally developed it has the slightest clue about this _unusual_ secret. With the Hougyoku in a dormant state with its seal removed is joined with someone who possesses twice the spirit energy of a Captain for a very short time its full power is suddenly released as if the Hougyoku were completely awakened once again."

The glass boxed cage that the new modified Arrancar he was awakening was in, suddenly shattered after a glowing bright light appeared. "Can you tell me your name...new comrade?" The new Arrancar was completely naked as the wrappings around his body had torn apart and fallen to the floor. He had short blonde hair, purple eyes and a three point tiara mask upon the top of his head. He stated his name, "Wonderweiss Margela."

Turning his attention back to Ulquiorra, Aizen asked, "Do you remember the order I gave you approximately one month ago, Ulquiorra?"

"Yes."

"It is time to carry it out. I will even give you a choice and take whomever you like with you."

"Thank you sir."

Aizen began to walk off to the other side of the room as he stopped and looked up to see an idle Arrancar sitting by himself atop a rectangular pedestal. "By the way, would you like to go as well..._Grimmjow_?"

-_Vizard HQ_-

A month had gone by and like they've been doing, Hiyori was kicking Ichigo and Kein's butt around the facility.

"Why don't you put up a fight you stupid idiot! Do you have any idea how many times I could have killed you already? At least Kein is making me break a small sweat! Oh wait I get it, you think Shinigami's have extra lives or something and have the ability to keep coming back to life over and over again! Well they don't, DUMBASS!"

Ichigo gritted his teeth as he got up from a pile of rubble, Kein on the other side of him panting a bit as she still had her mask on. She didn't have as much stamina as Ichigo did.

"Shut up," he retorted in irritation. Suddenly a chiming sound could be heard in the distance as Kensei banged a spoon upon a frying pan.

"Chow time! Get your butts over here on the double! The last one in line has to do the dishes! You HEAR ME?"

All of them made a rush over as Ichigo ended up being last, second to Kein, but to be fair, Kein helped Ichigo out as they were doing the dishes together.

"So...how's their training going?" Shinji asked Hiyori.

"Weren't you watching? It's not going anywhere, well except maybe with Kein, but she hasn't progressed that much either and she trained with us before Ichigo did. Ichigo can only hold up to a little over 10 seconds while Kein can only hold up to 20 seconds. Those dumbasses are a joke, real dog meat," she stated out loud so that both of them could hear nearby.

Kein grunted as she whispered to Ichigo, "Just let it go man. We'll kick her ass later I swear!"

"Maybe they don't have what it takes, maybe they should just give up," Lisa added in mockery as Ichigo finally turned around and yelled, "Just shut the hell up you little pervert! You're not even involved in our training so I would _appreciate_ it if you kept your mouth SHUT!"

"I'm already involved _moron_. I lent you my dirty magazine to get your mind off training the other day."

"She lent you WHAT?" Kein asked out in surprised question. "YOU DIDN'T LEND ME ANYTHING! Why the hell would I want to borrow that CRAP ANYWAY?"

"It's totally cool. I borrow it myself every couple of days or so," Love interrupted as it caused Ichigo to blush ferociously, "Well I'm not like you am I?"

"Personally I like to look at them twice a day to clear my mind," Lisa kept taunting.

"YEAH I _KNOW_! GOOD FOR _YOU_. But I'm not like either of you! Those pictures are distracting!"

"But I'm not a pervert! I'm just very curious that's all!"

Kein was suddenly laughing her ass off in muffled grunts as Ichigo looked back and glared at her.

"And what the HELL are _YOU_ laughing at HUH?"

Not being able to contain herself she uncovered her hand from her mouth as she burst into a fit of laughter.

"HA, HA, HA, OH MY GOD! You don't even look at dirty magazines? No wonder you look so pissed off all the time! HA, HA,HAermauggleaoo—"

Suddenly Ichigo took her head and dunked it into the dish water sink as Kein pulled herself back up quickly as she barked at Ichigo, "What the HELL man? That was soap water! I could have choked on that you stupid carrot top!"

"Shut up you damn blueberry!" Without warning Kein grabbed Ichigo's head and also dunked it into the dish washer as the two began to fight each other with the soapy water.

Shinji watched the two as he thought quietly to himself, "_A little over ten seconds...and only 20 for Kein...after one month. I guess it's just going to take more time. The Hougyoku awakes at the end of December. We've got two more months...so little time...we have to hurry._"


	6. Round Two

**Round Two**

Like the previous course of the month, the weather had proved itself to be quite beautiful as everyone was preparing for the winter battle. To properly train Orihime, Rukia had taken her back to the Soul Society in the training grounds with Captain Ukitake's permission. Kein and Ichigo were of course steadily battling with Hiyori to hone their Vizard mask skills while Chad and Renji were training under Urahara's shop. And last but not least; Matsumoto, Yumichika, and Ikkaku were trying to meditate with the resonance of their Zanpakutou's under the guidance of Captain Hitsugaya.

However, despite this peaceful and gorgeous day, within the sky opened up a dark and blackened cavity as it sliced open the peacefulness. Hitsugaya and the others suddenly looked up above them as this massive empty like mouth opened up in the atmosphere as they could see four Arrancars.

The first was Grimmjow, the second Luppi, the third Yammy, and the fourth Wonderweiss.  
>The group was shocked as they felt the arrival of these Arrancars was too early.<p>

"Oh! It looks like we picked a _good_ spot to show up!" Yammy smiled as he looked upon the ground at the Shinigami's below. "There's some guys with some very high spiritual pressures down there. Want to start with _them?_" He asked Luppi as the small younger looking Arrancar answered in a nonchalant wispy tone, "Take a good long look, those are Shinigamis Yammy. I wonder what they're doing here. Maybe they're reinforcements from the Soul Society Mr. Six told us about right?" as he turned and jeered at Grimmjow whom was standing idly by himself without much expression or care in the matter.

"Oh, _sorry_. Of course I mean the _former_ six."

"The girl I'm looking to kill...she's not even down there with them," he stated as he quickly took off in the distance.

"Hey! Wait, Grimmjow! Damn, that idiot!" Yammy yelled in protest as Luppi replied nonchalantly and mockingly, "Don't bother about him. He's not even an Espada anymore. He's..._worthless_."

"The guy I want to kill isn't down there either," Yammy grunted in irritation. "Who do you mean? The guy that chopped your arm off or the guy who kicked your butt? Or the one who deflected your Cero? With you there are so many enemies to choose from."

"Heh, heh, heh. I want _all_ of them. Hey, lets get going rookie! Don't just stand there drooling like that!" He yelled at the newest Arrancar who was staring off into space. "Ugh, just what we need, another _freak_ to join the team."

_-Vizard HQ-_

Ichigo and Kein were in the middle of their own sparring as she suddenly blocked his sword, but gasped audibly as Ichigo was quick to notice her expressional change as he withdrew his sword back.

"Hm? Hey what's up? You look like you just saw a ghost."

Kein shot her gaze to the side as she replied, "I...I-I don't know. I just got this really weird feeling. I think I need to leave."

"What?" Ichigo gasped at her statement.

"Like hell you will!" Hiyori yelled in protest, but it was within that second that they all suddenly felt the immense reiatsu presence far from their location.

"Wait...is that—"

"...Arrancars," Kein interrupted Ichigo in his mid thought.

"Are you kidding me? I thought they weren't supposed to come for the next few months or so. Isn't this a bit early?"

"It doesn't matter the reason for them being here. All that matters is that we leave immediately to make sure the others are okay. Who knows the damage that could be inflicted if we don't jump in now."

"Agreed," Ichigo concurred as he began in a dash towards the entrance to the underground facility, but he was suddenly held back by Love and Kensei as Mashiro and Hiyori held Kein down as well.

"That's not gonna happen," Hiyori interrupted.

"What the hell?"

"Nnngh, let go of me!"

"No, you're not ready yet," Kensei insisted. "This is exactly why your friends from the Soul Society are stationed here in the world of the living. Why don't you let them handle it?" Love asked.

"Are you KIDDING ME LOVE? Just because they were stationed here doesn't mean they have any higher chance of winning! What if the Arrancars they sent in are a hell of a lot stronger than the ones before? I can already sense one that's here that I had fought previously. He wiped the floor with me last time and I'm at a Captain's rank! What makes you think the others have any better of a chance than me?"

"Wait, Grimmjow is back?" Ichigo burst out in surprise. Suddenly Shinji grabbed the top of Kensei's tank top as he commanded, "Just let them go."

Kensei and the others did as told as Kein and Ichigo quickly began making their way towards the heavy spiritual pressures. As the two made their way outside, Kein got a head start on Ichigo as she was extremely restless to sense out Grimmjow's reiatsu and find him again.

"Hey, wait damn it!" Ichigo barked as he quickly followed up behind her, trying to keep up. "Ichigo...I'll take care of this guy. You head out towards the others to make sure they're okay."

"You can _forget_ that. I'm not leaving you by yourself, are you kidding me? You nearly got killed the last time you fought that guy and yet you expect me to just fly off and _hope_ you'll be okay?"

Kein gasped slightly as Ichigo flew up next to her as they hurried. "There just isn't any way for me to get you to leave is there? Fine. You can stay by me if you promise not to interfere."

"That's one promise I'll _never_ make." Kein gasped as he became a bit irritated.

"Listen Kein, we've been training for over a month now so we either stick together through this in the end as a _team_ or _not at all_. Isn't that what you said before, to do this together?"

"This is different—"

"…LIKE HELL IT IS!" Ichigo barked back, taking Kein by surprise.

"Okay I get it. You want to fight this guy. I'll let you take him first, but the minute I see that you're going to keel over then I'm going to step in. I'll be damned if I sit by and watch you die! End of discussion."

"I'm _not_ going to die. Just have the decency to give yourself some good distance between me and him. The type of power I'll be dishing out will be a hell of a lot stronger than last time as you should already know."

"Well _obviously_," Ichigo bantered as they were making their way half across town, but their chit chat was abruptly cut short as they were suddenly met by an Arrancar with blue spiky hair, electric blue eyes, and an exterior jaw bone upon his face. He was floating idly in the sky as if he was waiting for something.

Ichigo and Kein stared up at him for a moment as Ichigo began to float back downwards a bit to give the two some fighting room, trying to respect Kein's request of not interfering too heavily as he would expect the same treatment had the fight been directly between Ichigo and Grimmjow. The jawboned man and the Grim Reaper Shinigami looked at each other once again as it had been a while since they last fought even though it was only a month's time. Kein smiled at the sight, eager to fight him with her new powers and ready to test her limits once again, hoping that she could make both Ernesto and Bankaguna proud.

_"Don't mess it up this time or I just might jump in and take the fight for myself."_ Ernesto suddenly taunted inside her mind. "Heh, you'd like that wouldn't you? Don't worry, I've got this down. I'm going to get that attack right this time," she spoke softly to herself in but a whisper.

"Hey, I've been looking for you _Shinigami_." Flashing forth her Zanpakutou from her hand, "And I've been waiting for you, Grimmjow," she stated his name again as it rolled off her tongue in delight.

It didn't register in her mind at first from the moment of excitement she was feeling, but upon closer look she suddenly noticed some different features about Grimmjow. The first thing that stuck up more than any other color on the man's body was the rather large reddish burn mark that stretched from his Hollow hole up to his collar bone in a slight diagonal direction. It must have been left over from the attack that she used last time, even though she wasn't able to release its full potential since it was her first time using the Goukyuu Jigen, but her eyes were quickly taken by another horrifying difference as she noticed that Grimmjow's left arm was missing entirely.

She gasped loudly as her stomach sank from the sight. "Damn it...what...what the hell happened to your arm?"

Grimmjow however just merely grinned as he replied in sarcasm, "Oh I got rid of it because I only need one arm...to kill _you_."

"Damn it! Don't give me that bullshit of an answer! Tell me what happened! Was it Aizen? Did Aizen do this to you?" She asked in a quickly growing rage at the thought. She wanted to fight him at full strength and for nothing to hold him back in any way, otherwise how would the fight be fair at this point? She was going to test out her Goukyuu Jigen on him in her Vizard form, but already she was backing down on her attack plan. It didn't seem fair to her, not with him in _that_ condition especially if the attack ended up being successful.

Grimmjow scowled at her, rather annoyed by her persistence in knowing what happened to his arm.

"Why the hell do you care in the first place girl? It's just a damn arm anyway, not like it'll make much difference."

"Because I give a shit DAMN IT!" Grimmjow gritted his teeth in annoyance, finding her abrupt demand grinding against him.

"Will you shut the fuck up about it if I tell you?"

"Yes," she answered quickly, intent on listening.

"_Fine_. Then I hope it _eases_ your mind in knowing that it was Tousen..._not Aizen_."

She gasped in a rage, "TOUSEN? Damn it that FUCKER! I hate that guy so much! If I was there I would have killed him on the spot!"

Grimmjow cocked an eyebrow. He couldn't help but find it amusing of how angered she was, but most of all it was nice to know someone shared his equal distaste of the General that so easily licked the boots of his _majesty_ like a damn lap dog.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to push you for answers, but it pisses me the fuck off to think you can't fight me with _both_ your hands."

And then the Espada burst in laughter, "HA, HA, HA! Well I didn't know you were so _eager to die!_ Don't get too friendly with the idea of me missing an arm. I can still give you the beating of your life like last time!"

"Last time was _different_. Since then this dog has been taught a new trick. So prepare yourself Grimmjow!"

Within moments her spiritual pressure shot out in an enormous amounts of energy as she was engulfed momentarily by dark shadow and red highlights as her Bankai form was released once more upon her command, a large scythe within her hand and colored chains that chimed as they clunk together in the wind. She kept her gaze locked with Grimmjow as it sent a chill up her spine like a moment between a hunter and its prey facing dead on, but of course Grimmjow was unimpressed as he mocked, "Bankai huh? _So what_. Maybe you've _forgotten_. Your Bankai couldn't stop me or do anything to slow me down the first time we met!"

"Heh, oh really? You mean aside from that big ass scar on your chest?" Her reply and snide grin silenced the Arrancar for a moment as she asked, "Speaking of _last time_, I believe you have something of mine. It probably got caught around your hand by accident when attacking me, but I know you still have it."

Grimmjow smirked rather big as he eagerly replied, "Oh, you mean _this_ thing?" Putting a hand into his pocket and pulling it back out he revealed a golden six charmed necklace as it dangled from his fingers, the sunlight hitting it perfectly as it reflected the light.

"Yep, that's it. I'd _appreciate_ it if you gave it back to me," she replied back in a nearly similar sarcastic tone.

"Yeah? Well _appreciate_ all you want because you're not getting it back, besides I've grown quite fond of it. It _is_ my number after all."

"Irony at its finest," she stated with a grin as she held up a hand to her face, curling the tips of her fingers.

Ichigo watched from the sidelines as he folded his arms and witnessed the interaction between the two quietly. He couldn't help but find how Kein was reacting to Grimmjow and the things she said. Ichigo was accustomed to showing his enemies mercy, even his deadliest ones, but this was different somehow. Although it had only been a select few times that he ever even saw Kein fight an opponent other than himself, something was off about this fight and he couldn't quite place his finger on it. He knew that Kein was much more passionate about fighting than himself, but her reaction alone to Grimmjow missing an arm was rather...unnerving almost.

He admitted to himself that he too wondered what had happened to the Arrancar's arm, but Kein was much more obviously overt about her concern on the matter. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted as Kein had released her Vizard mask and Hollowfied as another burst of a much darker reiatsu had shot out, blowing a rather strong wind towards Grimmjow as he floated idly without concern and waited to see the result.

It only took a few seconds for the reiatsu to clear from Grimmjow's sight before he finally got a chance to look upon Kein as he gasped slightly from the sight upon her face as it was adorned with a strange Hollow looking mask. A Hollowfied hiss could be heard from her mouth as she slowly lowered her hand, revealing her black and yellow eyes.

"Wha...What the hell was that?"

"Heh, maybe one day if I get a chance, I'll explain it to you," she spoke, her voice completely morphed like two voices talking at once.

Holding out her right hand, she forced out her reiatsu from it as it caused her scythe to spin rapidly into a deadly saw like circular motion as she threw it towards Grimmjow in a violent thrust of energy. He quickly withdrew his sword to block the attack as it grinded in a spinning motion against his Pantera, pushing him back with a great force. Using it as a distraction she came up behind him in a split second as she taunted into his ear in a cocky Hollowfied voice, "Impressed yet?"

He gasped as he noticed her behind himself, but she didn't give him time to react as she reached forward, grabbed her spinning scythe and pulled it downward as it sliced along his abdomen and forearm that was trying to block it. The cut was horribly deep as blood spewed out, but he managed to get himself some distance from her only to give her a chance to come in at him again with her scythe as the two collided blades. The force from her Zanpakutou was putting chipped dents into his own as he was struggling to hold her back, but despite only having one arm he was still fairing well on his own.

It didn't take much for Ichigo to notice that Kein had switched up her fighting style just a bit since she had been refining on how to fight with a scythe versus a simple katana like blade. The curvature of the blade make it more difficult to cut down upon an enemy, but upon cutting contact it would land a rather hefty blow. However, the scythe had other points of damage that were more quick and affective since the bottom part of its staffing point was two parallel slightly inward curved blade fins that were sharp on both the inside and the out. And using that point of the staff, Kein pulled with one hand and pushed with the other as the blade ends of the staff were swung upwards, slicing Grimmjow upside the face, nearly hitting his eye.

The hit knocked him back rather abruptly as distance was opened between Grimmjow and Kein once more. However, Kein decided to give him a few second breather to let him comprehend just how much power she truly honed, but this was not amusing Ichigo in the least.

_"It's already been 8 seconds and she still hasn't taken him out and now she's giving him a breather? Just what the hell is she thinking?"_ He wondered to himself as he was beginning to get a bad feeling about this.

Seeing as the two were preoccupied and much higher up than before, he decided to quickly release his Bankai form on the off chance that he would have to intercept the battle from Kein.

"This...p-power of yours...kh...it's not the power of a _Shinigami_."

"That's right...its _not,_" she answered satisfied at his responses, although admitting to herself despite the success of her attacks thus far, she wasn't exactly enjoying beating the shit out of him and seeing him so bloodied up and injured. Normally cutting down an enemy never particularly bothered her too much, but with Grimmjow it was a bit different and she wasn't quite sure why. It was rare she met an enemy that could bring out her full potential and it was even rarer that she met someone that could beat her down with ease.

She knew she had to defeat him, but at the same time she didn't want to take him down _at all_. She was enjoying the fight too much. She didn't want it to end and yet...this feeling for her, it's strange and illogical nature. Thoughts began to conflict with her as she only had mere seconds remaining for her mask to stay on.

She was going to release her Goukyuu Jigen attack out of excited impulse, but again she held herself back. Neither did she want to use Rei de Karitoru as she wanted to figure out his weakness and attack abilities on her own. So she was left just with brute strength and hand to hand techniques to win the battle or at least damage him to the point of unconsciousness.

"What the hell did you do to yourself?"

Grimmjow barked out in question, but without answering Kein suddenly came at him with nearly undetectable speed as she jabbed the end of her staff forward. Grimmjow threw up his sword again to deflect it, but Kein used the force of the angle of his blade against her staff to aim the ending tip of her staff diagonally as it sliced along his hip and upper thigh as a burning sensation could be felt and blood dripped heavily down along his pure white pants, bleeding everywhere from his chest as well.

Spinning her body upwards and twisting it upside down, she swung her leg downwards as she drop kicked him in the face sending he him flying towards the town's buildings below.

Ichigo watched in silent amazement that her fighting style alone was beating down upon Grimmjow as she wasn't using any other attack. Kein was quick to come back at Grimmjow again as he flew downwards for a moment before he gritted his teeth to bare the pain, lifted his hand and fired a deadly Cero. Kein merely grinned as she easily sliced it in half like a knife into butter since the power of her Zanpakutou alone could slice through dimensional walls or binding Kidou if her arms were free to move.

Even though she blocked the attack, that was all the timing Grimmjow needed as he suddenly appeared behind her to come crashing down with his sword, but she swung her scythe down and then upwards as the blades met once more. He then began to strike as many powerful blows as possible to try to create an opening, but it was impossible as she was able to counter each move, coming to a draw again as the blades collided and grinded a second time at a standstill.

"I hope you enjoy naps cuz you're about to take a very _long_ one."


	7. Conflict Resolution

**Conflict Resolution**

A horrifying dark aura surrounded Kein's body as she powered up her reiatsu, overwhelming Grimmjow. Quickly removing her scythe, she swung it back and yelled aloud in a battle cry, but at the last second sounds of cracks could be heard and suddenly…

…her mask cracked…

It broke into pieces upon mid air. Both her and Grimmjow gasped as the pieces floated idly in the sky before gravity took over and began to drag the pieces down back to the earthen ground. At first Grimmjow was surprised, but his bloodied face quickly glowed with a renewed sense of confidence as he grinned wildly and yelled, "Your luck's run out Shinigami!"

Giving her a similar treatment from earlier that she had given him, he bent back his leg and then thrust it forward as it kicked against her cheekbone, nearly breaking it as she went flying downwards. Ichigo was quickly becoming worried as he stated to himself in irritation, "Kein! Damn it...why didn't she finish him off? She had plenty of time!"

As Kein was flying back down towards the town's ground, Grimmjow quickly flew up beside her as he swung his blade sideways. She blocked it, but with difficulty as it took both her hands to hold back the force of her scythe being pushed back at her since it was a lot heavier and denser than a regular katana.

"Whatever that power was just now, it looks like you may have _overdone it_. You started panting like a worn out dog the second that mask came _off_. It's over Kein. I have to admit you did some damage, but there was never any doubt of the outcome; you were no match FOR ME!"

Grimmjow flashed forth his reiatsu against her as she was easily pushed back.

_-Soul Society-_

When the Arrancars had arrived, of course the news had reached Soul Society and Rukia immediately left for the Human world. However, since Orihime had no Hell Butterfly, she could not accompany Rukia right away, but after some time, the Dungai was finally prepared. "Inoue! Orihime Inoue! We have finished stabilizing the walls of the Dungai. You may now pass through." "Alright," she replied as she approached the gate.

"Be careful," Ukitake stated to her in concern as she responded with a smile, "Thank you for everything you've done. Goodbye!" She began to run through the Dungai world, but not without suddenly being accompanied by two other Shinigamis. "We shall accompany you!"

"Oh! But I'll be fine on my own!"

"You're not an intruder anymore, you're our guest now."

"Your guest?"

"Two Shinigamis without hell butterflies customarily escort a guest when they travel between the two worlds. Sorry for the inconvenience but you'll understand."

"Sure! Alright, you lead the way then."

As the group was running down the purple darkened hall, Orihime thought to herself, _"If I can get there quickly I know it'll be alright. During this past month I feel like I've gotten stronger. Once I get there I know I can help them. So hang on Ichigo, Kein, I'm coming!"_

They're peaceful venture was suddenly interrupted by a voice in the darkness, "What's this, only two guards?" Orihime gasped as she and the other two Shinigamis stopped in their tracks to turn around and face the direction of the voice as a garganta began to open up in the Dungai. "The incompetence of Soul Society never ceases to amaze me. They just don't seem to understand that a person is most vulnerable when they're traveling."

As the garganta fully opened, it revealed the voice to be the source from the Arrancar, Ulquiorra. Orihime immediately recognized this being as the Arrancar that had arrived with Yammy the first time.

"Only two guards. I must admit I'm disappointed in the Soul Society..." he began as he started to approach the group "...although it is convenient that the restrictive currents here have been frozen. It's not in my nature to burst in like this, but I thought we needed to talk."

The two Shinigamis got in a protective stance as one of them withdrew their sword and barked, "Who the hell are you anyway? Are you an Arrancar?" Without answering, Ulquiorra slowly raised a hand as Orihime yelled out, "No don't! He said he wanted to talk!" But it was too late as a large amount of blood spew from the Shinigami to her right revealing that his right arm had been severed. Red sparks of reiatsu could be seen prickling around the Arrancar's hand as he replied, "Yes I came here to talk. I have something important to tell you."

"Souten Kishun!" She chanted as her healing shield surrounded the injured Shinigami.

"Get out of here! Run while you still can!" She commanded the second Shinigami as he hesitated, "B-But—"

"...you've got to get out of here or he'll kill you!" And again it was too late as Ulquiorra showed no mercy and injured the other Shinigami just as devastatingly. Determined to heal them both she yelled, "Iyane!" as her healing shield spread over both Shinigamis as the area was covered in a massive golden warm glow.

"Huh, I must say that's quite an impressive ability you possess to heal wounds that deep."

Orihime was angered as she clenched her fists and quickly turned to face the Arrancar with a serious expression upon her face. "Now come with me..._woman_." Orihime opened her mouth to protest, but he quickly interrupted her, "Don't speak. Yes is all I want to hear. If you say anything other than that, people will die. I don't mean you..." he stopped as three visual world panels opened up and showed the fights currently going on as she could see Kein, Matsumoto, and Hitsugaya battling "...I'm talking about those who are closest to you."

Orihime gasped as she watched the three visual screens before her. "Don't ask any questions. Don't tell me _anything_. You have no rights. The only thing you do have is the rope holding the blade of the guillotine safely suspended above the necks of your friends. Make no mistake little girl, this is not a negotiation. It's an _order_."

Orihime was stricken with fear for the life of her friends and the predicament she was now in and not having much choice. "For some reason Lord Aizen has decided he wants your power. He dispatched me here with orders to bring you back unharmed. I'll only say this one more time; come with me..._woman_."

_-Karakura Town-_

With exploding spiritual pressure, Kein was shot to the ground as she skidded along it like a car stuck on ice. It was worse than getting a bad carpet burn as her skin felt on fire before she finally thrust her blade down as it pierced into the ground and stopped her from going further. Every muscle in her body tensed as she panted and struggled to get back up. Grimmjow lightly landed upon the ground as he waited for her to see if she would get back her mask again, analyzing and trying to understand the limits of her strange power.

Ichigo had dashed down the connecting street as he turned the corner and saw Kein, but a block away. The tension in his chest was tightening as he was getting the urge to step in, but as him and Grimmjow watched her, she began to slowly sit back up as she placed a hand in front of her face like she did last time. Fragments of her mask began to form back together as she was able to put it on once more, but for how long, Grimmjow wondered? She may have been bloodied and battered and exhausted, but using her mask was a thrill to her as she wanted so badly to use it again like some kind of ecstasy.

"Hm," he grunted as he was confident that after seeing her mask come off the first time, that the length of the mask on her face a second time would only be for a matter of 3-4 seconds. Launching herself from the ground she came at Grimmjow with a violent force as she used the large blade part of her scythe to push Grimmjow down to the ground as he thudded against it. Her blade was sitting upon him high enough that it covered his collar bones, but sat just below his chin as he struggled to get her off of him, but she was quick to get a free hand in as she grasped upon his exterior jawbone and was going to rip it off in a quickened frenzy as he gasped audibly, the pupils of his eyes retracting to tiny pin pricks in size.

Ripping a mask off a Hollow, even a high ranking one, is not only excruciating, but also devastating and takes time to recover from. He could see the deadly and wild look in her Hollow eyes, but suddenly her expression changed as she realized what she was about to do. Her frenzy had almost gotten the best of her as the push from her blade and right arm lightened and she removed her hand from his jawbone as she became remorse and whispered, "I'm sorry."

His eyes widened with surprise from her words. She was...sorry? However, with no time to spare her mask suddenly cracked off once more as the two gasped simultaneously, sweat now dripping down the side of her face and she was more exhausted than before. Her hardened force now felt like a paper weight as Grimmjow bared the biggest grin you could ever see upon his Arrancar face as he forcefully bent his leg upward and kneed her in the gut. Then using his other leg he kicked her abruptly off himself as she skidded quite a few feet sideways.

He quickly got up and with his Pantera clutched in his hand as he held it up in the air in an expressive type of manner.

"Ha, ha, ha! Well it seems like _you_ have a _problem_. Either you've taken too much damage or you've spent all your spiritual energy. Once that mask has been used once, it dramatically cuts the time that you can use it again or maybe you have a limit as to how many times you can use it. It doesn't matter what the reason is. That mask isn't here now IS IT?"

She was lieing flat upon the ground as Grimmjow came above her and thrust his blade down through her side, pinning her to the ground and nearly missing her Hollow Indentation as she cried out in an exhausted bawl. He waited a second for her screams to stop so that she could hear him speak as he continued, "It's a mute point, whatever the reason. Don't worry..." as a Cero began to form in the palm of his hand just in front of her head "...because a Cero at close range…will wipe away that mask wearing head of yours!"  
>Just before Grimmjow fired his Cero, suddenly a deepened voice cried out nearby.<p>

"Getsuga...TENSHOU!"

Out of nowhere a darkened flashing reiatsu shot forth as Grimmjow jumped back, barely dodging it as it hit a car nearby and caused a massive explosion from the gasoline inside the tank as fire flickered and spread out upon the cement. When the smoke and debris had cleared, leaving only but a few areas of lit fire, Grimmjow now looked upon the face of Kein's friend whom had been watching from the sidelines.

"Alright now that's enough. As you can obviously see, she clearly can't get up," he stated as he turned towards Kein, eyeing the sword that was pierced downward into her body.

"Sorry, but this has to be removed. Brace yourself." Within seconds he had yanked the blade from her body as she cried out once more from the numbing, stinging pain as she didn't have the strength to get up. "Here, I believe this belongs to you," he stated sarcastically as he tossed Pantera back to Grimmjow.

"Beat it kid, I'm not done with her yet."

"If you think I'm just going to stand by and watch you kill her, you're sadly _mistaken_." Ichigo retorted as he got in a battle stance and placed a hand in front of his face as Grimmjow instantly noticed the same hand gesture as it was nearly identical to Kein's.

"Wait...you too?"

Within a mere moment, Ichigo Hollowfied as his mask appeared causing Grimmjow to tense as he could feel Ichigo's reiatsu level to be just as frightening as Kein's. He wasn't sure how long this orange haired Shinigami could hold his mask, but he had a feeling he was in trouble. Kein yelled out in a pained cry, "No...Ichigo...DON'T KILL HIM!"

Ichigo ignored her plight as he began to easily beat down upon the already heavily injured Grimmjow, however he wasn't nearly as injured as he could have been had Kein decided to use her newest attack like last time or had went all out on him, so he was still able to defend himself fairly well while holding back each of Ichigo's strikes of his Bankai sword. Kein felt saddened at that moment and was rather confused as of what to do. She wanted to save Grimmjow and yet...why?

Why must she save him she thought. Was it because she wanted him spared so that they could both heal and fight each other in another time? No...it was something else, but what? She knew he was the enemy and that he was going to kill her or anyone else at the drop of a dime, but something still didn't seem right to her and knew for whatever reason, she had to stop the fight.

She was bleeding from her stomach as well as other cuts upon her body, but she slowly managed to get herself to her staggering feet by willpower alone as she held her stomach with one hand while steadying her stance with her other as it clasped upon the staff of her scythe, keeping her upright as she dug the blade into the ground. She watched as the two fought fiercely as Grimmjow was still holding his own against Ichigo.

Kein deeply admired this about Grimmjow as she had quickly learned just how dangerous of an opponent the Sexta Espada was, considering that even with one arm, he was able to fight against the new power of a Hollow mask, but one other feature that she couldn't help but notice is how the jawboned blue haired man refused to fight her unless she was at full strength and it is because of that one moral he held that she too held the same ideal in fighting him fairly without the use of special attacks.

These thoughts however were quickly broken as she saw Grimmjow get hit with a heavy blow from Ichigo's blade as he drew back a few feet. "It's over...Grimmjow." Kein gasped as her mind became blank with fear...fear for Grimmjow's life just like how she feared for Ernesto's safety when he was fighting against Ichigo's Hollow form.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

A panicked ache hit Kein as she blindly ignored all her pain and launched into the air as she screamed, swinging her scythe, "GOUKYUU JIGEN!"

Firing her ultimate technique she was hoping that her attack would merely deflect his Getsuga Tenshou away from Grimmjow, but she had accidentally exerted too much power into the attack as it pierced straight through the Getsuga Tenshou and contacted directly onto Ichigo's body. Ichigo cried out as the attack felt like acid upon his skin, it entering into his very essence as it began to break down his five senses, dulling them mostly, but not completely as her attack could have been 10x stronger had she been at full strength.

"Oh my god...no...ICHIGO!"

Kein was fairly close to Grimmjow as he gazed upon her in shock, but she was too focused on Ichigo, fearing for his well being as she didn't mean for the attack to pierce through and hit him directly. This was all going horribly wrong and the attack drained nearly every ounce of her spiritual pressure as she found it difficult to even float in the air as she was hunched over and panting heavily as she watched Ichigo thrash about until his mask suddenly cracked off.

"Heh, maybe Aizen was right about you after all," Grimmjow stated in an almost sarcastic tone. "You two bare the same type of mask and he protected you and yet you attacked him anyway to protect me and why would that be I wonder," he continued to taunt her as she began to question her own actions, looking back at Grimmjow.

"Well whatever the case, I don't know what your deal is, but that was a _big mistake_."

Spinning quickly, he then planted his foot against her side and knocked her back down to the ground as she impacted it with a hardened thud. "Do me a favor and stay put down there while I finish off your so called _friend_. Then when I'm done with him...I'll take you back to Hueco Mundo so you and Aizen can have a little _chat_."

Grimmjow was bleeding from his head, arms, and down to his chest area, but he was still alive and kicking and had yet to release his Resureccion Form. Without any further interruptions, Grimmjow immediately went after Ichigo who was struggling to regain his composure, but everything around him seemed like a faint haze. His hearing was partially clogged and screwed with his sense of balance, the sensation in his skin felt partially numb, his sight was slightly blurred, the taste in his mouth felt dry and even the scents in the air he was smelling from the nearby plants was dulled.

He suddenly saw Grimmjow rapidly approaching him in mid air as he swung out his sword to block, but his swing was off as Grimmjow merely deflected it sideways and came back in with a violent thrust of his sword as it slashed downwards upon Ichigo's shoulder, digging rather deep into the muscle tissue. Ichigo grunted harshly, but he bore the pain as he flipped his body upward and attempted to kick Grimmjow in the face, but with his senses skewed, he clearly missed as Grimmjow ducked, grabbed the boy's foot, and then swung him into the nearby buildings on the ground.

Kein could only watch in guilt as there wasn't anything she could do now having zapped her strength nearly to its limit as she heard Ichigo's yelps from Grimmjow beating down upon him into a pulp as he desperately tried to deal with the affects of Kein's attack. Ichigo could only wonder to himself that if this was the affects of her attack at only 40% potency, what would have happened if it was at 100%?

He didn't have time to comprehend the thought completely however as he was doing his best to deal with each heavy blow of Grimmjow's sword as the Arrancar clearly had the upper hand. And he neither had the time to bring out his mask again nor could he since Grimmjow wasn't a fool seeing as how devastating the power was of Kein's mask so there was no way he'd let Ichigo attempt to bring out his own.

Finding another opening, Grimmjow knocked Ichigo once again to the ground as he thrust his sword downward and pierced it clean through Ichigo's upper right thigh as it penetrated into the ground. The boy yelled out as Kein was forced to watch as Grimmjow was going to finish him off with another attempt at a point blank Cero attack. "Well it was fun kid, but your days are numbered!"

He began to form a Cero in his hand once more as Kein cried out in plight, "No STOP! GRIMMJOW PLEASE! Your fight is with me, just LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Grimmjow could only laugh however at the irony of the situation. "HA! You should have thought of that before protecting me!"

However, within seconds before he was going to release his Cero he was suddenly once again interrupted by some stray attack that came out of nowhere. The fighting had stopped once again as Ichigo, Kein, and Grimmjow looked in the direction of the attack as they saw a strange blonde haired, tan trench coated man standing upon a rooftop.

"My, my. I just _detest_ having to interfere with another Shinigami's fight. And yet I have no choice, I can't ignore you if you're making so much _noise_."


	8. Halcyon Days

**Halcyon Days**

"Who the _hell_ are you?" Grimmjow rudely demanded to know, irritated that his fight was once again interrupted.

"Shinji," Kein spoke to herself in silence, glad that he had actually come along so that Ichigo wouldn't be further battered on her account, but it still didn't take away the shameful sting of guilt from her actions.

"Are you a _friend_ of theirs?"

"Do I _look like I am?_"

"Who are you then?"

"Does it really matter?"

"No, you're right. Whoever you are..." stopping midway in his sentence as he quickly grabbed his sword from Ichigo's leg and yanked it away as he burst into the air towards Shinji "...your dead, because I'm going to RIP YOU TO SHREDS!"

Grimmjow swung vicious attacks at Shinji, but the blonde haired Vizard merely dodged them with ease.

"Ugh! If every time I dodge an attack you destroy a building, I won't be _able_ to dodge because then I'll feel so _guilty_. Try to hold back a little when you're fighting," he requested nonchalantly in a sarcastic tone as Grimmjow merely came at him again in an abrupt manner as reiatsu flashed from his Pantera.

"Can't move any better than that? HUH?" As he quickly began to approach Shinji in midair once more, his opponent merely replied calmly, "He's obviously...a hot headed one, this guy" as he held a hand up to his face. Grimmjow gasped as fragments of a mask formed upon Shinji's face and with one downward yank of his hand, Shinji Hollowfied completely.

_"What the hell? Just how many of these bastards have these masks?"_ Grimmjow thought to himself as he felt the horrifying spiritual pressure blast forth from Shinji's body as the two collided with blade against blade.

Shinji was much more versed and much more experienced with Hollowfication as his attacks were deadlier and more devastating then Kein or Ichigo's. Shinji's speed was incredible and each swing of his sword easily pushed Grimmjow back. Kein and Ichigo could only watch in shock at the amount of stamina Grimmjow showed despite having already fought themselves previously and having previously received heavy damage and yet still this Arrancar, with but one arm, was managing to keep himself alive, but despite his strength and power, signs of tiring began to show on Grimmjow's face and body.

His attacks were a bit weaker than before and his counters were becoming slower as he was barely holding his own against Shinji now. Kein feared the worst as Shinji wasn't showing any signs of holding back as he was coming at all angles with lightning fast reflexes. Having had a bit of time to recover just an ounce of strength, she slowly pushed herself up to all fours as she watched up in the sky.

"STOP IT SHINJI!" But the Vizard didn't pay much heed or attention to her yelling as he continued to beat down upon Grimmjow seeing as she had miserably failed to do so. The affects of Kein's attack were slowly beginning to wear off as Ichigo was able to at least sit upright as he looked over at Kein from afar. He just couldn't understand why she was acting the way she was acting and it was beginning to anger him.

"That mask you have on...you're one of their friends. Go on admit it!"

"Don't make me repeat myself. Does it really _matter?_" Shinji replied in a Hollowfied response as he blasted forth a strong push from his reiatsu as Grimmjow was thrown back a good amount of feet, giving Shinji the time he needed to form a fatal attack as the Arrancar, Kein, and Ichigo for the first time saw Shinji forming a Cero in his hand.

"Sorry Arrancar..."

"...it can't be..."

"...you're pretty strong...so I'm not going to hold back..."

"...a Cero!"

This was it. Kein knew that if she didn't do something that Shinji was going to kill Grimmjow and so upon complete and irrational impulse powered by emotional will alone, she used the last bit of her strength to shoot out into the sky as Ichigo yelled after her and seconds before the Cero hit Grimmjow, she jumped in front of him and embraced him to absorb the attack head on as Grimmjow, Shinji, and Ichigo gasped in speechless shock.

Shinji had no time to intercept her as the move was completely unexpected and within the last remaining split second the Cero impacted the blue haired pairing as they were pushed heavily upon the ground below.

Horrified at the scene, Shinji and Ichigo yelled out Kein's name, but most of all Ichigo as the orange haired Shinigami forced himself up and tried to hurry over to their location to see if she was even still alive. Shinji however landed before Ichigo to keep him from going further as the two waited for the smoke to clear.

"What the hell is she thinking?" Ichigo barked in confusion as Shinji merely replied, "She has her reasons."

"What? How can you say that? It's clear that this Arrancar just wants to kill people so how can she just let him go?"

"Ichigo, I've known her a lot longer than you have. For whatever reasons, she's decided to let this Arrancar live and it's not out of complete irrational thought. Whatever the case, it's worth it for her in the end. She wouldn't show mercy on just _anyone_. Besides, just because she shows mercy to an enemy, doesn't mean she would let them do whatever they felt like."

Despite Shinji's encouragement, Ichigo still couldn't understand Kein's motives. He found it baffling that she would protect a guy like this since clearly he was going to take his Fraccionez and go on a killing spree the first time they came.

The impact to the ground was damaging, but nothing compared to what Kein had received as Grimmjow slowly sat up with a dead weight upon his lap. She was completely unconscious now, but still breathing as Grimmjow didn't know how to react exactly as he was both shocked and also extremely pissed off. He could have handled the attack on his own as he was going to fire a countering Cero at the last second to lessen the damage he would receive, but at the very least he now wouldn't have to worry about Kein interfering any further. However, the situation still puzzled him. Why the hell was she protecting him?

"KEIN!" Ichigo yelled once more. "Quiet Ichigo. She's fine, just unconscious," Shinji interrupted.

Grimmjow was going to abruptly push her off of himself that is until he took notice of a strange sight. Her clothing was now completely torn in multiple areas, but mostly upon her back area from the Cero attack and revealed her Hollow indentation. Grimmjow eyed it curiously as it was both strange and yet recognizable. It looked oddly enough like an Arrancar Hollow hole or at least the _formation_ of one.

He didn't know quite sure the connection, but from what he had analyzed of the fight so far it was obvious that these strange masks that Ichigo, Kein, and Shinji bore was able to give them Hollow powers and he couldn't help but wonder within that short moment if what was upon Kein's back was also Hollow related and would explain more as to why Aizen was also interested in her and why he was giving her a chance to decide which side she wanted to be on.

However, what was also more daunting was the feeling he had as of this moment. Despite previously having a Fraccion and being used to people just willingly wanting to follow him out of either fear, intimidation, or inspiration...this was the first time someone had _protected_ him out of concern for his own well being. It both annoyed the hell out of him, but also intrigued him to a very slight degree. The fight however wasn't over yet and he had much more important things to do than to be thinking about the strange and confusing actions of some girl.

Pushing her finally off of himself, he stood up with his Pantera in hand. Looking down upon Kein he gritted his teeth at the entire situation as not only did _two_ masked beings got the better of him, a _third_ had rudely stepped in and commandeered the fight. It was like all of them thought they were better them him at least from his own perception. He felt like they were looking down upon him with those black shot eyes.

Those damn _eyes_.

In a sudden rage he came at Shinji, yelling his chant command, "NOW GRIND..." as his blade began to glow, but before he could finish his attack chant a being suddenly appeared beside him as a hand was grasped upon his Pantera blade. Ichigo and Shinji gasped once more as this white skinned man appeared out of now where as Grimmjow spoke his name "Ul...quiorra."

"Our mission is complete. We're leaving."

A golden dimensional beam shot down from the sky as it engulfed all the Arrancars within Karakura Town, abruptly ending their battles as they were all still alive despite taking heavy damage. Grimmjow and Ulquiorra slowly began to be levitated into the sky as Ulquiorra looked down upon Kein and Ichigo as he thought to himself _"There are some traces of spiritual pressure. It seems that they have gained a new power. Still, is that the best they can do? It's over. You have no means to fight anymore. The sun has set, the day is ours."_

Grimmjow kept his gaze upon the unconscious Kein who was now in Shinji's arms as he floated up towards the Garganta in the sky. He knew that she had held back during their fight and only drove his desire stronger to fight her one last time, one on one without any interruptions and without any reservation of power. Until then he would heal and wait for their next meeting, if there would be one.

_-Vizard HQ-_

While everyone else was taken to Urahara's shop to be healed, Kein and Ichigo were taken to the Vizard HQ so that Hachi could do what he could for them shortly after Rukia had arrived on the scene only to see both Kein and Ichigo passed out from exhaustion.

"I'm sorry, this is the best I can do. My ability doesn't actually involve healing someone's injury or illness. It's more of a type of time reversal. In order to use my techniques most effectively I must have precise knowledge of what conditions to reverse. This is critical to success or failure. Right now both Kein and Ichigo's spiritual energy have intermingled with the spirit energy absorbed from the Arrancar's attacks not to mention that Kein's exertion of her attack upon Ichigo has morphed his reiatsu from the inside out and is still taking time to wear off completely. In their current condition, this is the best I can do. In order to get them through this as quickly as possible they need to be isolated so it's important that they be separated from beings like ourselves since we all have spirit energy that is similar to the kind found in Hollows. Being around us will only slow down or reverse their recovery. Through my advice to you is to take them home or at best keep them both in separate rooms and let them rest for as long as necessary. Or better yet, return Kein back to where she currently stays at while Ichigo stays in his own home, away from her so that their spiritual progresses do not interrupt each other. That will be the best treatment for them right now."

"Yes, I understand," Rukia agreed as she looked sadly upon her friends that were lieing unconscious upon the ground.

Eventually though Rukia had returned Kein back to Orihime's house and Ichigo back to his own home. After returning into her gigai and dressing down to pajamas she sat upon the floor as Ichigo laid silently on his bed. "Ichigo...I wonder who those people were. And even more importantly what kind of power were you and Kein trying to obtain from them? Why did the Arrancars retreat in the middle of the fight? It doesn't make sense. There are so many things that I don't understand. Alright, Ichigo will be safe here. I better go check on Kein and Orihime."

_-2 Hours Later-_

After making sure Kein was alright and knocked out cold, Orihime was writing down upon a piece of paper, giving specific instructions to Matsumoto and Hitsugaya about the laundry, trash days, and left over dinners.

"Well, that's pretty clear. I think that covers everything. I wish I didn't have to do this, but Rangiku and Toshiro would be helpless on their own."

She looked down upon the strange silver bracelet that clung to her wrist as she remembered the instructions that Ulquiorra had given her hours ago.

_"Take this and do not remove it. While wearing it a special type of spiritual barrier will surround you and you will be invisible to the outside world. Only we Arrancars will be aware of your presence. You'll find you have one more ability; while you have it on you'll be able to pass through any physical object that exists in your world. Don't take it off for any reason. You have twelve hours. I give you permission to say goodbye to one person during that time. However, if that person realizes what you are doing then you would have disobeyed my orders. You will come to me at midnight. Finish whatever business you have by then and meet me at the designated area. Don't forget, you can say goodbye to one person and one person only."_

Finishing her note, she left one last little message in the bottom right corner of the coinciding page of her notebook as it read _"Goodbye halcyon days."_

After finishing her note she went to check on Kein whom was still knocked out cold. Watching the blueberry sleep soundly triggered memories into her mind as she thought about the times she had spent with Kein either in battle or at home having a good time, but most of all she remembered the advice Kein had given her about being part of a group and having a role no matter how small or how big.

"Thank you Kein, for everything. I don't know much about you or anything really about your past but...no matter what, you did what you could to help Ichigo and you do what you can to be there for me even though I know you can't be here all the time and I'll never forget that. So please...take care of Ichigo for me and the others."

Using her powers as she wasn't given any specific orders _not_ to heal anyone, she reversed the damage done upon Kein's body and once she finished, she left silently. She began to wonder around town as it didn't take much for her to realize the truth to the powers of the bracelet on her wrist as she accidentally bumped into someone, but they acted as if nothing was there. Upon approaching a nearby store window she gasped as she could not see a reflection and to test the last ability of the jewelry she wore, she lifted her hand as it passed straight through the window.

Knowing now that there was no turning back and that there was nothing she could do, she ventured to the school as she contemplated on who she was going to say goodbye to, but out of all the people that she wanted to say goodbye to, she couldn't stop thinking about Ichigo as her hands were placed upon Ichigo's school chair where he would usually sit. She then sat upon the grounds of the school yard as she saw Tasuki from afar for a moment as she was passing by for a class. Day had soon turned to evening and had soon turned to night as she stood at the waterfronts near the middle of the city until she had finally ventured over to Ichigo's house.

The curtains on his bedroom window gently pushed away as Orihime entered silently into his room.

"Okay, there we go. Hee, hee, hee, that's hard to get used to but here I am," she laughed nervously as she looked down upon Ichigo whom was sleeping like a baby as her expression went from her usual cheerful laugh to a saddened frown.

"I decided to say goodbye to _you_ Ichigo. There are actually a lot of other people I wanted to say goodbye to as well like Tasuki, Chad, Uryuu, Rukia and a bunch of others, but I'd get in trouble if I did so I had to choose."

A moment of hush fell upon the air before Orihime gasped slightly at the strange sound of murmuring sleepy mumbles as she looked over the edge of the bed to see that Ichigo's little sisters were sleeping soundly upon the ground next to his bed. She smiled as she stated, "Oh I get it now. I guess Yuzu and Karin wanted to be close to you tonight. You haven't been around much so they must have really missed you a lot. That's so cute. They brought their plates in so they could have dinner next to your bed. Wait I just realized...your bedroom..." as she looked around blushing "...come to think of it this is the first time I've ever been in your bedroom by myself ever since I've known you. It has...your scent."

She looked down upon him again as her eyes caught sight of his soft featured lips. Gently placing her hand inside of his and clasping onto it tenderly, she slowly began to lean over to kiss him as her hair fell over her shoulder and overlapped onto Ichigo. Memories of her time with him flashed through her mind, treasuring each moment and each second of those memories as tears began to fall from her eyes. But no matter how much she wanted to, she found that she just couldn't bring herself to kiss him.

"Just look at me. The truth is I just can't bring myself to do it. I'm so ashamed of myself. It's my last moment with you and I'm crying..." wiping away her tears "...when I think about it Ichigo there were so many things I wanted to do. I wanted to become a school teacher. I wanted to become an astronaut. I wanted to be a baker. I wanted to go to a bunch of doughnut shops and ask for a bunch of everything. I even wanted to stop the ice cream man in his truck so he could give me one of everything he had as well. I wish I could have had five different lives instead of one. Then instead of one town, I could have been born to a family of five different ones and each one could have fed me a lifetime of different foods and I would have grown up to have five different careers. And in every one of those lives...I would have fallen in love with the same person five different times. Thank you Ichigo. Goodbye."


	9. Change of Plans

**The next story that takes place is **"At Death's Door"

**Change of Plans**

The next day dawned as Ichigo woke up only to accidentally fall onto the floor head first as he grunted and winced.

"W-What was that? Damn that hurt...that has got to be the worst possible way to wake up in the morning..." he stated in a sleepy haze as he rubbed the side of his head "...my freaking head. I'm such an idiot," but it was then he realized that the wounds he had felt completely fine. He quickly unwrapped his bandages as he saw that he was entirely healed.

"It's healed. Who did this?" He placed his hand upon his head as he concentrated, "This spiritual pressure..." but he was interrupted by the sudden opening of his window as Hitsugaya interrupted "...it was probably Orihime Inoue. Come immediately Ichigo. It's an emergency."

Ichigo soon arrived with Hitsugaya at Orihime's living complex as he entered into the room that contained the large communication screen as he joined up with Rukia, Yumichika, Ikkaku, Renji, and Matsumoto to be there already.

"Rukia..." he stated her name, but she turned her head away and sighed "...what's this? Why is everyone standing here in Orihime's room and where is she anyway? And where the hell is Kein?"

"Kein is here resting still, but Orihime..." Rukia started quietly, but Hitsugaya interrupted as he asked Matsumoto, "...what is the status?"

"Sir, we've regulated the spiritual wave."

"Fine, put me through."

The screen was full of static until the image cleared finally, revealing Ukitake on the other side.

"Ukitake? I was looking for the Head Captain."

"I had him switched to me," he stated solemnly. "And your reason?"

"Because I'm the last person that saw Orihime Inoue before she went through the senkaimon to return to the world of the living."

Everyone gasped for a moment as they heard the news.

"Judging by your reaction it appears as if she did not arrive there safely as I had hoped."

"What's the meaning of this Jushiro? Where exactly did she disappear to? Do you know anything?"

Ukitake lowered his head and sighed as he replied, "I'll give you my _assessment_. The two guards I sent with her when she went through the senkaimon came back alive. According to them it's likely that Orihime Inoue has either been abducted...or killed by the Arrancars."

An expression of horror overtook Ichigo's face as he questioned in disbelief, "Killed?"

"Captain Ukitake, I believe you're jumping to conclusions!" Rukia barked. "I understand. I don't want to believe it either. I'm just stating the worst possible scenario there is. We think it more likely however that Orihime Inoue was attacked by an Arrancar and then disappeared with him."

"Are you kidding me? Is that really all you have? Orihime has disappeared! You say that there's no proof and that she might be dead! Well take a look at this!" Ichigo flashed up his wrist in anger as he continued, "I was seriously injured in yesterday's battle. No one here can heal my wounds, but when I woke up this morning it was already completely healed! Not only that...but on my wrist...THERE'S STILL SOME OF ORIHIME'S SPIRITUAL PRESSURE! Are you still gonna stand there and tell me that she might be dead?" Ichigo continued to bark out in frustration, but mainly at the situation.

"I see..." the Head Captain suddenly came into the room on the other side of the channel "...that is most unfortunate."

"U-Unfortunate? W-What do you mean by that?"

"If what you say is true than it would be safe to assume that Orihime Inoue is indeed alive, but at the same time unfortunately it means that this is an act of betrayal."

"Act of betrayal?"

"If she _had_ been abducted she would not have had the time to visit you while you _slept_. In other words, the fact that she healed your wounds before disappearing can only mean one thing; that Orihime Inoue had actually volunteered to go along with the Arrancar of her own free will."

Ichigo snapped as he lashed out, "YOU BETTER TAKE THAT BAC—"

"...stop!" Renji interrupted him as he placed a hand upon Ichigo's shoulder and pulled back on him.

"You'll just end up worsening your position if you say anything else. Sir! I understand what you're saying Head Captain Yamamoto. Therefore as a member of the advanced troupes _and_ because I am the lieutenant of Squad 6 _I_ will go to Hueco Mundo and bring the traitor, Orihime Inoue back to her senses."

"Renji," Ichigo stated his name, realizing what the red pineapple was doing as Renji smiled back at him.

"You must not!"

"What?"

"With this new information we now know that the Arrancars are ready for battle. All members of Captain Hitsugaya's advanced troupes are to return immediately and defend the Soul Society."

"Are you saying...that Orihime...is to be abandoned by us Head Captain?" Rukia asked.

"Exactly. We cannot risk the safety of the entire world just to go chasing after one simple Human."

"Unfortunately Head Captain, with all due respect, I can't follow that order."

"Unfortunate indeed. I thought that this might happen so I thought that I should plan for it."

Suddenly behind them a door to the Soul Society opened as Kenpachi and Byakuya appeared. "Captain Kuchiki—"

"...alright now, I want chu all to head on back," Kenpachi commanded. "Don't fight us. We have been ordered to take you back by force if necessary."

The room was silent before Ichigo interrupted, "Alright then. In that case I'm not going to ask the Soul Society to help me get Orihime back. However, the least you can do is tell me how I can get in Hueco Mundo. After all she's still my friend, so I'll go save her myself!"

Ichigo gave a stern look to the Head Captain as Yamamoto insisted once more, "You must not! We are going to need your help in this battle, Ichigo Kurosaki. I won't allow you to plot your own course of action and die for nothing. Stand by until you receive orders. That is all for now."

And the screen finally went back to static once more.

"Alright lets go," Kenpachi urged as the others went through the gate. Rukia however stated with one last goodbye, "Ichigo...I'm sorry."

Ichigo was then left quietly to himself in Orihime's room, but unknown to him Kein was fully awake. She was standing outside the bedroom quietly leaned against the wall as she heard everything, but was not surprised by the situation. Orihime has a very unique power and although she wasn't sure what Aizen was up to, she felt that it was a very smart strategic move of Aizen to take Orihime so that she could not assist in healing anyone.

Whatever the case she'd have to face Ichigo eventually, but felt now was not the time as she also needed time to herself to think about what she had done so she could explain herself to Ichigo as she herself was not entirely sure to her own motives or impulses for helping Grimmjow. So she decided to give it a day before meeting up with Ichigo again to not only explain herself, but to talk to him about going to Hueco Mundo as she had a feeling that he would eventually come to her, knowing how headstrong he was about rescuing his friends.

_-Next School Day-_

"Well...well...Ichigo. It's been a while since I've seen you last hasn't it? I was sad thinking you didn't want to graduate with the rest of your class..." the teacher began to bang her book against his forehead "...you haven't been hospitalized due to an accident have you? Well what do you want to say, huh? Well come on! Well say something for yourself."

"You changed your hairstyle," he said in a glum type of tone. "Well thanks for noticing! But I changed it three weeks ago!"

After getting a lecture and his classes soon ended, Ichigo was slowly walking down the hallway to go home before he was suddenly being chased after by Asano as he came running down the hall like a mad man yelling, "Ichigo! Ichigo! Ichigo! I-CHI-GOOO! It sure has been a long time huh?"

However, his antics were quickly knocked down as Kojima stomped upon his body to quiet him down. "It really has been a while. What have you been doing for the month you took off? We were worried about you. You didn't even answer your text messages."

Ichigo just merely turned partially around and smiled strangely as he answered, "Oh yeah sorry about that. I was a little busy."

"What are you doing Mizuiro?"

"Oh, I almost forgot. I was able to get some tickets for a premier screening if you'd like to come with me. They're for Bad Shield 2."

"When is it?"

"Oh uh...it's for the 5th of December." Ichigo held the tickets in his hand as he replied solemnly, "Yeah it sounds good. I think I should be back by then. Thank you Mizuiro," as he began to walk off leaving the two classmates rather baffled by his strange behavior. They weren't used to Ichigo showing a smile like that or being so nice.

"Huh? He'll be back by then?"

However the moment was interrupted as Tasuki yelled out to Ichigo causing him to turn around once more. She was huffing and puffing from running around all day.

"Tasuki...what is it? Tell me what's wrong."

"Orihime, she disappeared! She's not at home or anywhere. Her entire presence has disappeared. It's true, I've been looking all over the city for her, but I can't find her. She's gone! But you know...you know where she went don't you? Admit it!" She urged him on with a fierce look in her eyes.

"What do you mean by that? Why would I know? Besides are you really sure she disappeared? Why don't you just try looking for her agai—"

"...CUT IT OUT!" She yelled as she grasped onto the scruff of his sweater.

"I've always been able to sense her, but her presence has disappeared! I can't sense her nearby. For a while now I could only faintly sense her. It was if she was on the other side of some wall, but yesterday she suddenly vanished without a trace! And you know something about this don't you? I KNOW YOU DO!"

There was a moment of silence before Ichigo finally replied, "Just cut it out. I told you already I don't know."

Tasuki narrowed her gaze as she knew he was lieing through his teeth. "Yes you do and don't think I don't know either. I've seen you...when you wear that black robe when you run around fighting monsters as well as other strange people wearing the same getup! Ichigo, I've had it with all the lies. Tell me the truth! What are you trying to hide?"

"Listen...it's none of your business." His statement put Tasuki in a rage as she swung her arm out to punch him into the window, but suddenly her arm was caught by a stranger with light and dark blue hair that was nicely put up in a pony tail as well as regular biker type clothing. She squeezed tightly onto Tasuki's wrist as she interrupted, "That's enough. Even though you have every right to know...now is not the time."

Ichigo, Tasuki and the other two classmates gasped as Kein had come out from the hallway as she had been watching the commotion.

"Let go of me!" Tasuki demanded as Kein moved her away from Ichigo. "You two might want to take control of your friend here. She's crossing a few lines," as she nudged Tasuki into Asano as the eccentric classmate put her arms in a locking hold.

"Have you completely lost your mind? You nearly punched Ichigo through that window!"

Kein was standing beside Ichigo, but she had her back turned towards him as she didn't have the willpower to look him in the eyes just yet.

"What do you think I am? I want to know! What am I? Am I someone who even matters to you? Do you consider me your friend? Are you really MY FRIEND?" Tasuki cried out in an angry passion as it shot into Ichigo's heart. "I saved you all those times when you were getting beat up. How many times did I find you crying and tried to help you? Just cut it out! Stop trying to hide things from me!"

Kein didn't know his classmates all that well, but Tasuki's words were getting even to her as she gritted her teeth, wondering why Ichigo was so standoffish to his friends even though she understood his reasoning to do so. Tears went down Tasuki's face, "You idiot."

"Ichigo..." but the orange haired teen merely sighed as he replied, "...I'm sorry Keigo, Mizuiro, take care of Tasuki and do yourself a favor and just stay away from me," he warned once more as he began to walk off, not making any remarks to Kein.

"You idiot. YOU IDIOT!" Tasuki screamed as Kein approached her once more.

"Do you really want to know?" She asked as the three classmates looked at her with slight surprise.

"Since you already know about _us_...about the Shinigamis...and since you have every right to know the rest of the story, then seek out a man named Urahara Kisuke. He's a blonde haired man in green robes and a green and white striped hat. He owns the candy shop nearby. If he feels like doing so, he can explain everything to you. I don't agree with how Ichigo is handling this situation with you three so you have every reason to be pissed off. But...now is not the time for him to explain things so I'll leave you with peace of mind in knowing Orihime is alive. Yes, she's gone, but she'll be okay. I can promise you that much."

Finally letting go of Tasuki as she calmed down a bit she questioned, "But just who the hell are you anyway?" Kein merely sighed and replied, "An outcast...but a friend. I just simply don't have time to explain everything to you myself as there are much more important things at hand here, but if you want to know...then just seek out Urahara. Until then, just ignore Ichigo's actions. They're not meant to hurt you, just simply to protect you."

And with those final words she left as she caught up to Ichigo whom was now outside.

"Ichigo wait!" She yelled as she ran to his side, feeling a tension in her chest as now was the time if ever to say what she needed to say and explain what she needed to explain. His expression towards her was odd at best as he was depressed about the situation with Orihime, but his eyes also spoke of anger and disappointment. The look gripped Kein's heart. Ichigo was the _last_ person she ever wanted to see with that facial expression.

"I don't know any better time to do this…and I don't know if I'll have another chance but—"

"...before you begin, I want to say something to you," Ichigo interrupted her as her breathing flinched and her heart dropped a level. She was afraid of what he would say, but she wasn't a coward. She was going to stand there and listen to his words no matter what they were.

"In the time I have gotten to know you, all you have ever done was to help us. The first time we met you didn't even hesitate to help me and then you later helped us save Rukia. You protected me as well as my friends in more than one occasion and you have also risked your life to do those things. You have pushed me to the edge to get me stronger and you have entrusted me with things I know you would never entrust to anyone else. In knowing that, I just want you to know that I don't feel betrayed by what you did. Shinji insisted that your reasons for your actions are justified..._but_...I think I at least deserve an explanation."

He looked sternly upon her as she was rather shocked by what he had to say. She wasn't expecting any form of kindness or sympathy from Ichigo as she knew he had every right to be pissed, but his words helped to calm her mind a bit as she listened intently for him to continue, "Not only did you save him once, but _twice_. You risked not just your life, but mine as well. Just what the hell were you thinking Kein?"

His tone became a bit louder and more intense as she mentally stumbled upon what to say to him. She took a deep breath and paused for a moment before she finally replied, "At first...I wasn't sure what I was thinking at all, but then I realized that I was making the same decision with him as I did with you when we first met."

"When I first met you...Ichigo...you were the _enemy_." Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows as she began to explain her side of things, trying not to get irritated with her as the situation was bad enough as it was with Orihime.

"The only thing I knew about you was that Rukia saved you. I had to make a choice; either help you...or _kill you_. I helped you going only on a simple single hunch that in the end, you would be a friend and benefit...and that you would save Rukia. Well, was I wrong?"

A moment of silence hit the air as Ichigo understood where Kein was going with this as he replied, "No, but that situation was different. I wanted to save people. That Arrancar you protected? He wants to kill them!"

Kein gasped. He had a point, but she didn't back down from her side of the perspective on the situation.

"The Arrancars are our enemies because they are _forced to be_. Aizen is just using them to bide time to awaken the Hougyoku and to weaken us. He doesn't give a damn about them, and in the end he's just going to kill them anyway or let them get killed on their own without doing a damn thing to help them. I don't know how many Arrancars he has at his mercy or how many of them would be willing to kill us at the drop of a hat, but are we to treat each of them the same? It's not their fault they're a pawn in all of this and they're just taking orders because they have no choice…or…because they're too scared and powerless."

Ichigo thought upon her words for a moment as what she was saying was rather true as he too had a knack for showing mercy to his enemies no matter how much they wanted to kill him.

"That may be, but I'm not talking about the other Arrancars. I'm talking about the one _you_ protected for what seems like no apparent reason. So far you haven't given me _any_ explanation to why this guy is such an exception to the others. What has he done that makes you want to save him, to keep him alive? He just wants to kill you."

"That's _exactly_ the reason."

Ichigo gasped, not at all expecting her reply to be of such a nature at what she was implying.

"There isn't much I can say that can be explained by mere logic, but Grimmjow could have easily gone out to attack the others but instead he came directly to _me_. He just wants to fight _me_. I can see it in his eyes and I can feel it from his blade. And I want _exactly_ the same. I don't know what it is about this guy, but I just want to fight him. He's not like others I've fought before in the past. I…it's hard to explain Ichigo and it's much more than that. I'm going off of a intuition. I went off a hunch with you and I'm going off of a hunch with _him_. I don't know much about him, but through battle he speaks loud and clear. He lost an arm due to insubordination. It was Tousen that took his arm...but...I'm pretty sure Aizen just sat by and watched. He went against orders to come here the first time and for what? Was it really just to gain favor with Aizen? No, I don't think that's it at all."

As Kein's words unraveled, Ichigo was slowly beginning to understand this other side of Kein that he hadn't dealt with before. It was a much wilder side, a more passionate side that seemed to hunger for something to satiate her love to fight, but it couldn't be just any fight and her opponent couldn't be just any opponent.

"I think he came here because he simply wanted to fight. Yes he wanted to kill…but he wanted to _fight_. I think…he was looking for an opponent that could take him on and had nothing to do with _being on Aizen's good side._ Furthermore, I respect him for having a warrior's code that is both admirable and also _fair_. He refused to fight me unless I was at full strength so he waited for me to use my Bankai. Out of all the enemies that have ever wanted to kill me, he is the first that sat by and allowed me to power up without knowing if it would make me more powerful than him or not. He didn't care what the possible result would be, he just simply wanted me to be at my best so he could test his power. Its because of these many aspects I've noticed thus far that I think…I could convince him to actually join our side."

Kein was a lot more perceptive than she lead on. Her reasons, even if crazy at first impression, always were backed up without hint of malice or deception and as Ichigo stated previously, all along all she has ever done was to help them so he doesn't have much reason to doubt her at this point, his trust her in building firmer as he got to know these other sides to her. His expression relaxed as he let out an exhale, about to speak again but just as he opened his mouth he then noticed the change of expression on her face. She was saddened.

"I'm so sorry Ichigo. My attack…I…I was just trying to deflect yours away, but I put too much energy into it because I panicked and it backfired. I didn't mean to…" as tears formed in her eyes "…put your life in danger."

Ichigo couldn't help but succumb a little to a woman's tears as she took a deep breath and sighed deeply.

"It's okay. I know it was an accident. I know you would never intentionally try to hurt me, but you're not telling me the whole story."

Looking up at him she questioned his statement. "What do you mean...the whole story?"

Ichigo's expression softened as he gazed back at her, "I watched the way you fought him. There was a lot more to your reason of saving him than I think even you yourself realize or maybe, you don't want to admit it to me. What was the _other_ reason you saved Grimmjow? The reasons you gave me so far are true and I have no doubt about them, but something tells me there's more to it than that. I know you wouldn't risk your life or mine over a simple hunch that you could have easily been wrong on."

Kein blushed. He was right. There _was_ another reason, but she was still unsure about it and didn't quite understand it. "I...I-I don't know what to tell you..." she began as she looked down at the ground "...I've never...fought anyone like him before. His fighting is so much like my own. He has such passion in his eyes and the way he fights with his bare hands. He enjoys getting in on the action without the use of his sword so he can feel every sense and touch of the moment. His power is so incredible he was able to hold all three of us off just with one arm. He's so untamed and wild and...aggressive. From the two fights I've had with him, everything about him makes me want to fight him even more. He's pushed me to every limit I can imagine and has inspired me to become stronger. And in knowing that, the thought of losing him...loosing such an incredible fighter is just...is just..." she stopped as she was losing herself in thought.

"This feeling...I don't know. I don't know how to describe it, but I just want to do everything I can to protect him...to bring him to our side."

Ichigo sighed a little as he wasn't quite sure what to do with her words, but he felt it was sufficient enough for now and he trusted her to do what she felt was right.

"Alright, I guess that settles it then. You're going to make a promise to me." She looked back up at him as he laid down the cards, "I'll let you pursue your goal with him if you promise me that no matter what happens, you will not allow him to hurt others, but most of all you will not die on _his_ account, that you will do everything in your power to avoid that outcome."

She gasped at his request as she needed a moment to answer. "I can't promise something I don't know the outco—"

"...promise me damn it! I will _not_ lose another friend because of those Arrancars!"

She gasped more audibly this time, feeling the passion from his request. His stubborn nature never ceased to amaze her, but considering the situation she caused and nearly got him and herself killed, it was only right and fair that she would do her best to keep the promise and so she replied, "I promise."

Taking in a deep breath and exhaling it out through his nostrils Ichigo commented, "Alright, thanks for explaining those things to me. Is that everything you wanted to tell me?"

"Yeah…" she answered before adding "…and I'm sorry…about Orihime.

"So...you _do_ know."

"Yes. I was listening nearby when Ukitake and the Head Captain were speaking, but I didn't want to interrupt...or bother you at that point in time. That is one other reason I waited to speak you because I know you're going to go to her."

Ichigo gasped as she could see right through him. "I know you're planning to seek out Urahara for his help to get into Hueco Mundo by yourself and I must say I have to be blunt; going into Hueco Mundo is the stupidest thing I think I have ever seen you attempt. You may think that you had a chance in Soul Society saving Rukia with the help of your friends, but Hueco Mundo and the Arrancars is a whole another ball game. You may not care what obstacles lie in your path, but going there on your own is an instant suicide. I'm not talking out of ignorance or opinion, but out of experience. I was once there when the dimensional rift incident happened in Soul Society and it's ultimately how I ended up with Hollow powers. I know the powers that lie there in dormant sleep that Aizen has now awakened. Hueco Mundo is an entirely different monster."

Ichigo gritted his teeth as she continued, "I also know there's nothing I can do to convince you to stay and so...I'm going to help you."

"Uh...w-what?"

"Have you forgotten? I have the Hollow ability to open up a Garganta to rip open the dimensions that are set up between Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the living realm. I can take you there, but I won't let you fight them alone. You have a better chance with someone going with you in your current state and abilities, then to fight alone, otherwise what's the point of me being your friend?"

Ichigo was a bit speechless as she finished with, "I think you also know that there's no convincing me to stay behind."

He smiled slightly in response, "Well, I guess there's no helping it then."

"Alright. Meet me at Urahara's shop tonight at midnight. I should have everything prepared by then."

As planned, at the stroke of midnight Ichigo went to Urahara's place as he found Kein and the shop keeper standing outside waiting.

"Hey welcome back. We've been waiting for you to show up here, Ichigo."

"I'm going to assume she told you our plan?"

"Yep, everything down to the last detail. Come inside. The preparations are all taken care of." Ichigo followed the two as they went down into the suburban training grounds under the shop. "I was afraid...that Aizen would go after Orihime's power so I left her out of this battle, but...I was too late. Taking her feelings into consideration, it was my mistake to leave her out. I shall do anything I can in order to try and help you, but Kein has it pretty much covered on that end."

"Pretty much," Kein agreed in sarcasm.

"You sure about that? I mean after all you'd be going against the Soul Society's decision."

"Look, I'm here because I went against their rules in the first place. Isn't that right Kein?"

"Yep. Same goes for me. We're a bunch of outcasts, but we still give a damn."

However, their conversation was interrupted by a familiar voice, "Well, you sure are a sad sight Ichigo.

"Hey Uryuu! Wait a minute, what are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Chad interrupted. "We're going to Hueco Mundo."

"Wait a minute, did you invite them here Kein?" She smiled at him in a cheeky manner as she  
>responded, "Maybe."<p>

"We were already given all the details. We're going with you..."

"...yeah..."

"...you can't. Look I appreciate your concern, both of you, but you're just not strong enough."

"Ichigo..." Chad began as he formed his attack arm into its transformed state and threw a violent punch at his friend as Ichigo blocked it with his sword "...now do you think that I'm still not strong enough?"

Ichigo gasped at the power Chad displayed. It was much more than it was before and put in a pretty hefty impact that he found a bit difficult to block.

"_Believe_ in us."

"Chad—"

"...don't take this on by yourself. This is what friends are for."

Urahara began to clap as he yelled, "Alright! Are we all set?"

"Yeah, this mushy moment is beginning to bore me. Let's go kick some Arrancar ass!" Kein added. The three faced Urahara and Kein as he finished off with, "It looks like everyone is ready..._finally._"


End file.
